Ryou Bakura: Time Master!
by DoraCatBuu
Summary: After getting married, Ryou remembers Sami's want to figure out who she was before she came to his world. Unwillingly enlisting Malik's help, what ends up being a trip into the past turns into an adventure spanning many different time zones... and worlds.
1. The Man with the Plan

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. Takahashi does, and he says the disclaimer's looking a little bare right now. Don't worry. Aeon and the others will be back soon.

It was a cold, brisk September day as Ryou Bakura sat on the front porch, looking out over the autumn sky as the sun reached its high point for the day. Months had passed since he'd heard from Sith, and even longer since he'd actually seen her. And while he knew she was more than capable of protecting herself from the Mystics' continuous onslaughts, he couldn't help but worry for her. She was no longer fighting a weaker Mystic; she was going right for Rath, the leader, and her greatest opponent since her long life even began. To not hear from her meant either she had little luck, she had no time to write, or she was dead. Ryou prayed it was one of the first two. The last option meant his life, and those of his friends, were screwed into eight-mile graves.

To make matters worse, Victor wasn't around much, either. During the first few weeks, he had spent a lot of time at Ryou's house, and the two made plans and gathered ideas about what had to be done and where the first clue regarding the sword could have been. Victor, during that time, had told Ryou everything he could about his life, including the legends Sith had told him when he was a child. She had mentioned the swords but had not, from what he remembered, said where any of them were. He only knew that she, and his father, could both wield Zealacht. But as the weeks dragged on and the summer passed, Victor had begun to visit less. To be honest, Ryou began to feel lonely without the Esper by his side.

"Maybe I'm just needy," Ryou said to himself as he thought of this. After all, that was partly what made Sith agitated with him. He hated when she wouldn't spend time with him. If Victor was of the same make, he'd have ditched Ryou, too.

"You are," came a voice, and Ryou yelped when Victor suddenly appeared next to him, looking over with a grin on his face, "Miss me, buddy?" Ryou snorted, and nodded. He didn't look directly at the sly Esper, but he knew Victor was more or less happy that he managed to scare Ryou. Again.

"You shouldn't use your power like that. Sith wouldn't approve," Ryou told him, but Victor just laughed. During Sith's absence, after he revealed his true identity, Victor's power began to creep back into himself, and he could warp around as he pleased. But only that; he couldn't quite figure out how to throw lightning or create searing flames like his mother could. Nor could he wield one-ton weapons like his father.

"My mother's not even here," Victor reminded him, and then frowned, "My father hasn't come back, either." Ryou noted that worry in Victor's voice, and wondered if he suspected his father dead. Considering he was still alive, both his parents were probably okay. Ryou patted his back.

"You thought he would?" Ryou asked curiously. Victor shrugged.

"I'm not sure what my father would do, to be honest," the Esper replied, and then laughed, "According to mom, my father has a tendency to not listen to proper reasoning and just do what he wants to do when he wants it. Never mind that half the time, what he wants is to just slaughter everything, aside from his family, that moves." Ryou eyed his friend worriedly, praying to the gods that such a trait did _not_ get inherited by Victor. Sith herself had a murderous streak, as well, and if _both_ parents disliked mortals, Victor had a lot to contend with.

"Your father sounds fun," Ryou commented sarcastically, and when Victor snorted, he asked, "Who is he, anyway? If he's not me, and not Mello, and certainly not Aeon, then who? Xemnas?" Victor's snort became a full-fledged laugh, and the man nearly fell clear off the steps before he recovered.

"_Xemnas!_" Victor repeated, and shook his head, "No way in hell would my mother spawn with him! No, my father's better than that. You remember Saix, right? About six feet, really strong, really fast, carried a giant sword? Had an X-shaped scar?" Ryou nodded, glad to know Sith wouldn't be marrying Xemnas. Then he realized what Victor said, and his relief soon turned to outright fear. Saix! Victor just honestly said _Saix_. Ryou twitched.

"You have got to be kidding," Ryou said flatly, but Victor grinned and shook his head, "Saix! That _lunatic_ is your _father!_"

"That _lunatic_ saved your life, Ryou," Victor reminded him, and his laughter ceased, "Besides, why are you surprised? Didn't uncle Axel even say Saix liked my mother?" Ryou did remember Axel had teased Saix about that, but he hadn't actually thought there was anything to it. Now he knew he had been wrong. Very, very, insanely wrong.

"Is it possible to go back and erase Saix from time?" Ryou asked, but his sarcasm wasn't welcome in that aspect. Victor's normally-smiling expression turned to a hard glare, and Ryou felt an intensity similar to Sith's upon him.

"Kill my father and you're no better than Mello was," Victor told him, and that silenced Ryou's thoughts. Knowing his point was across, Victor changed the subject, "So, heard from my mother?" Ryou shook his head and let out a sigh. He truly wished he had, if only to warn her now about _Saix_. Not that that'd do anything, of course.

"Not yet," he admitted, and looked down, "I've tried asking Katt to help me contact her, but Katt can't seem to breach the barriers between the worlds right now. Falnika's doing too good a job at keeping the magic from toppling over. Inter-world travel's at a near halt!" Victor shook his head sadly.

"Aunt Katt never was overly good at using telepathy," Victor mumbled, and then grunted as he said, "Well, in any case, at least I know dad's okay. Zexion told me he submitted a report to Xemnas that all was well. They've already made it to Nesce, about five hundred years before now." Ryou remembered Sith saying they had to go to Nesce _before_ she had disappeared from her world, and that was over three thousand years ago. Five hundred was nothing, and would yield nothing.

"Is Aeon having trouble?" he asked. Victor's lips thinned.

"I'm not sure, but if he is, I already have a plan," the Esper said grimly, and then grinned again, "Or, I should say, _Malik and I_ have a plan." Ryou glanced over flatly, and wasn't sure how to take that remark. He trusted Victor, but only in the sense that Victor was related to Sith and should have had some level of reasoning when it came to logic. But he certainly did _not_ trust Malik, least of all when it came to magic. If anything, Malik would cause the time-space continuum to collapse.

"Uh oh," Ryou said, laying his chin against his knees. Victor laughed.

"Nothing bad, nothing bad," Victor assured him, but he wasn't even remotely convincing, "Malik happened to create a blueprint of a time machine, and I happened to mention that I might need one. So, he's dropping a prototype off today." Ryou stopped blinking and flat out stared. That was just a death trap waiting to erupt, and he now wished Sith was around to stop her son. Ryou just sighed, looked away, and shook his head. He sometimes wondered if he was the only sane person left in his world.

"Are you telling me he built a time machine?" Ryou asked, not even noticing that a motorcycle was rumbling down the street. Victor just grinned again. But he wasn't the one to answer.

"Sure did, buddy!" Malik yelled across the street, and came to a near-crashing halt outside the residence. Ryou's eyes narrowed as he saw the bike. Attached to it was a wagon; on that wagon was a blanket covering something very large. That had to be the time machine.

"Oh good god," Ryou moaned, and Victor patted his back, beckoning Malik to join them. Yugi climbed out of the wagon and raced up the steps as well, and the two sat beside Victor and Ryou. This didn't lighten Ryou's concern.

"You ready to make history?" Malik asked him, excitement clear in his voice. Ryou glanced over. In all honesty, he would've really just rather left time-traveling to Aeon. But Victor wouldn't have allowed that to happen, not when his mother was out there somewhere.

"I don't think we should do this," Ryou said quietly, but Malik pretended not to hear as he ran back to his motorcycle. He turned and grinned when he reached the wagon. Ryou didn't like that look.

"Well, we do, so listen up," Malik said to him, and threw off the cover. The machine was cylindrical in shape, and almost seven feet tall. It was bright red, with a large, glass door in the front, and buttons going up both sides, a light bulb on the very top to power the damn thing. In all honesty, Ryou was amazed the wagon had held such a thing up. He was even more amazed that the thing was in one piece. One of the handles was hanging off the side, and a few buttons flashed dimly, even though the machine wasn't even on.

"…what _is_ that thing?" Ryou asked, not sure if either Victor or Malik could answer him. Unfortunately, Malik beat the Esper to it.

"I call it the Ishtar Time Traveler 5000," the boy said excitedly, and a wicked grin seemed to pass over his face, "Are you tired of your Esper buddy bopping all over the time-space continuum with a bunch of asshats you don't like? Do you want to erase her past lovers from time itself? Think there's no solution?" Ryou blinked. As much as he'd have loved to screw around with history, this was serious and he didn't have time to listen to a live-action commercial. He looked over at Yugi, whose face turned blue in embarrassment.

"He's actually going to try making money off of it in the fall," Yugi explained, and Ryou shook his head. He wasn't surprised. There was just one question that would put Malik's plans to an end, however.

"Does it actually work?" Ryou asked, and that caused Malik to freeze. Ryou guessed smartly that it did _not_, but for humor's sake, he wanted to hear that from Malik himself.

"Uh… Victor?" Malik asked, and the Esper rose a slender brow, "It works, right?"

"How the hell do I know?" Victor retorted with a laugh, "I wouldn't try that thing unless mom was _dying_. Which she isn't." Malik's brows creased angrily. Leave it to Sith to spawn someone so damn condescending and rude. He stamped a foot and waved his arms furiously, both trying to make a scene and not wanting one at the same time.

"Are you people _serious!_" he yelled loudly, not caring who he attracted, "I spent _two months_ working on this piece of crap so we can save Sith, and you're not going to _try it!_" Ryou felt the answer was pretty damn obvious, considering how reluctant he was when he first saw the thing. Yugi looked at their friend flatly, eyes narrowed as he listened to Malik's outburst.

"You had nothing better to do all summer?" the small boy asked, "What happened to going to Egypt for the summer?" Malik growled, and in a fit that had nothing to do with his friends, he kicked the handle clear off the side. It crashed through one person's front window.

"_I WOULD'VE BEEN IN CAIRO IF ISHTAR HADN'T BANISHED THE CAPTAIN!_" Malik screamed, "Stupid idiot forgot his passport in our room, so when the captain of the flight booted him off the plane, he went all Exodia on the poor guy and just banished him! He had us ALL kicked off the flight!" Ryou didn't find that funny, but Yugi did, and the latter fell to the floor in a fit of laughter. Ishizu must've been pissed as hell to be denied a trip back home, and Ishtar had to be equally enraged when he was dragged away by the authorities. Maybe that explained why Ishizu didn't want to help Ryou's case, when he did ask her.

"I'm… I'm sorry, Malik," Yugi said, but the snorts and giggles took the pity out of the statement. Malik spat on the ground, all the more sour for it.

"No you're not," the blonde stated, and then grinned, "Anyway, to quash my anger, I decided to just build something that could take me anywhere I wanted, without fear of arrest or paying hundreds of bucks on air fair." Ryou glanced at Victor, but the man was just as confused. He then turned back to Malik, watching his friend suspiciously.

"Mal, if it's supposed to just warp you around, why does it send you through time, too?" Ryou asked him, and Malik froze again. Truth was, he didn't know why he added that feature. He just did, just for the hell of it. He shrugged.

"Actually, I don't know," he admitted, and darkly added, "I tested a pillow just in case. I wanted to shove it up Ishtar's ass for his little charade, but when it disappeared and there was no scream of agony, I figured it must've gone to a different era." Never mind that modern magic or technology didn't _have_ access to warping time or space. Ryou's brow arched.

"And you didn't consider that you might've vaporized it?" he asked flatly. Malik shook his head.

"Nope," was the simple reply. Malik noticed Ryou wasn't convinced, and so he laughed and asked, "Come on, buddy. What could actually go wrong?" Ryou intended to nip that question in the bud. There was no way he'd let them summon a score of Mystics, not when Sith wasn't there to help them.

"Just about everything," Ryou said seriously, and Malik frowned, "Look, I'm glad you want to help, but we can't risk warping time. We might end up summoning demons or something, and Sith's not even here if something goes wrong. Unless you prove it works, I have to say no." Malik saw his point, but he couldn't hide his disappointment. He was so sure he had a good idea. Damn the Mystics and their abilities with magic!

"I didn't think of that one," Malik admitted, and sighed as he plopped onto the steps, "Damn. What can we do, then?"

"We could still test it out," Yugi offered, "We'll just use someone who can't get hurt." Ryou wasn't sure who, aside from Sith, Xemnas, and Saix, qualified for that. Surely, their friends and themselves were out of the question. He looked up into the sky.

"I suppose. Come on," he said, and stood up. The four of them walked to the machine and brought it, with some difficulty, to the porch. Then, they had to get it in through the door. Ryou had an idea as to who they could try to send, but unless they got the machine hooked up, they couldn't do anything useful. Unfortunately, the machine was unyielding. The door was just too narrow. Yet that didn't stop Malik, who kept pushing at the frame, trying to jam it into the entrance hall. Ryou winced. If Yaten found out, he was dead.

"Malik, knock it off!" he hissed angrily, but he was too late. One push too many sent the machine rocketing through the hall, slamming right into the mirror on the other end. It cracked, and then shattered into shards as the doorframe burst apart from the amount of force Malik used. Yugi and Ryou screamed, ducking into a corner as the group was sprayed with shards of glass and splinters of wood and plaster. Malik wasn't as lucky, and Victor was hit full in the face. And when it was all said and done, debris and dust littered the front hall. Ryou's house wouldn't survive another episode like that.

"Uh… I know it looks bad," Malik said, when Ryou stood and glared death at him, "But at least no one heard us." Ryou knew that wasn't possible, but Malik was lucky enough Sith wasn't there. Unfortunately, Yaten and Bakura were, and they came running down at the first sound of destruction.

"What the bloody hell!" Bakura demanded, as Yaten ran down and said, "What are you boys doing! This is a _house_, not a football field!" Ryou blushed in embarrassment, and shook his head. Technically, this was _Malik's_ fault, but he knew he'd get blamed for it regardless.

"Sorry, dad. It won't happen again," Ryou growled, throwing a glare back at Malik. Malik nodded guiltily, as Yaten just sighed, trying to decide what the proper punishment for destroying the foyer should've been.

"I guess making you clean it up is punishment enough," the older man decided, and walked down the stairs, "Now, Ryou, I just got a call from the curator down toward Diceben. I have to leave for the train tonight, so I expect you won't let your friends wreck the place while I'm gone." Ryou's brow arched. He had known his father would be leaving soon, but now, of all time? He actually needed his father's help right then, if only to explain to Malik just what a bad idea time traveling was. He frowned.

"How long?" he asked, and when Yaten answered, he exclaimed, "Three _weeks!_ Dad, you can't possibly expect me to stay here alone for three weeks!" But judging by the look on the man's face, he did expect it. Yaten crossed his arms, leaning on the railing.

"Son, you're nearly nineteen. I had to _move out_ when I was your age," Yaten told him, and when Ryou looked away, the older man put a hand on his son's shoulder, "Look, I know you've grown timid because of those… _things_ that keep destroying the city, but Sith said they aren't coming back."

"She's not even here!" Ryou yelled back, and at that, everyone went silent. Victor looked up at him and smiled weakly.

"You're angry," he stated, and Ryou couldn't deny the truth. He was, but not because Sith wasn't there. It was because they'd gotten no further than they were three months ago. The sword was still out there, and now Malik had taken it upon himself to get involved. Yaten wasn't sure what to do; he had no idea what was even happening, and as far as he was concerned, Sith had left to visit family.

"Son, I know it's hard, but you need to get through this. We're safe. Sith would never leave you in danger," he said earnestly, and this did get Ryou to look up at him, "She's as much your sister as Amane is. Trust her." Ryou already did. He hugged his father, and with that, Yaten left them in the hall. Ryou watched him leave until the car was gone, around the corner.

When Yaten was gone, Malik and Victor went into the living room to set up the machine as Yugi, Ryou, and Bakura cleaned up as much of the damage as they could. The mirror was pretty much destroyed; the glass had broken so majestically, there was no salvaging the poor thing, and Bakura had to take it outside as Yugi swept the glass up. The wall had also taken damage, and there was a tiny hole from where the machine had first punctured it. Bakura's quick solution was to just hang a picture over it, and for lack of a better argument, Ryou agreed. But the sorriest state of all was the machine itself. Before they could work, Malik had to make sure there was a big enough space for the damn thing, and Ryou was forced to look at it as Bakura and Yugi worked behind him.

When it was all said and done, though, the machine fit perfectly into the living room. Almost everything had to be unplugged to hook it up, but to Victor, that was a small price to pay for saving his mother's life. Ryou watched as he worked. Victor, despite his recklessness, was good at machines. He had it attached and working within ten minutes, and even Malik had to admit it took him three hours to set it up at his house.

"Think it actually works?" Yugi whispered, as Victor turned the machine on.

"…" Ryou wasn't sure if he wanted to know. They waited a moment, and then the machine began to whir. The light bulb on the top lit up, and the tiny screen on the side opened as well, showing coordinates of some kind that Ryou didn't understand. From the looks of it, it did. So far.

"_Yes!_ I did it!" Malik cheered, eyes alight with pride, "I created a time machine!"

"Let's make sure the damned thing works, first," Bakura warned him, and turned to Ryou, "So, what are you hoping to find in the past?"

"A sword," Ryou replied, and at Bakura's bewildered look, he continued, "When I was face to face with Falnika, she told me how to defeat Rath. We need the three Swords of Mercy, and we have two of them. The problem is, we don't know where the third would be." Bakura hummed, digesting that. He had never even heard of the three Swords of Mercy, and was sure Sith had never told him of them.

"And it'd be in the past?" the spirit asked. Ryou shrugged. Sith hadn't gone into too much detail concerning that, but it had something to do with her brother.

"Sith said her brother owned it, three thousand years ago roughly," Ryou explained, "My guess is, she's going back that far to obtain the sword before it's lost. After what happened concerning her and Rath, no one can account for her brother. Not even herself." Bakura whistled loudly. He didn't have the whole story – he barely had any of it! – but if Sith was willing to go that far for a sword, he had to respect that. Meeting her brother before his death would be hard enough on her. Doing it just to stop Rath would only add to the stress.

"I think you should let her handle this one by herself," the old thief stated seriously, and everyone turned to him. He just stared back at each person, his expression grave. For once, he wasn't trying to be a jerk.

"Why?" Ryou asked him. Bakura's lips thinned, and he sat down in a chair.

"Because you might cause much more harm than good," was all he said, "Listen, Ryou, if you go back there, say you find Sith. Say you find her before she knows you, and you let slip something that happens in the future. If she decides to do something to change that future, it's possible that she will end our existences. It's even possible she'd destroy the world." Ryou felt that was pretty exaggerating to happen, and almost laughed. But Bakura still wasn't kidding.

"She wouldn't do that," Ryou said, but Bakura wasn't convinced. His eyes turned hard as he stared critically at the boy.

"There is _always_ the chance she could, inadvertently," Bakura told him sternly. That silenced any protests the others could bring. None of them thought Sith could act so rashly, but Bakura was adamant, and was loyal to Sith. And he remembered every warning the woman gave concerning any type of magic: that it could always have the chance of adversely changing the world around them. Likewise, Victor was similarly affected. It was clear, by his expression, that Sith drilled that warning into his head since he was three.

"Bakura's right," Victor admitted with a sigh, and Ryou looked at him, "Maybe mom wouldn't actually destroy the world, but we can't mess around with time just because we want to help her. I'm speaking from personal experience; we can't do something that we might regret later." Bakura nodded in approval, but Malik seemed ultimately disappointed. He had spent so long working on this machine, and now they weren't going to try it.

"So, we can't do anything?" Yugi asked. Bakura looked down at him, and considered the question. He technically hadn't said they _couldn't_ do anything, he merely suggested leaving this particular problem to Sith. Besides, if Malik's machine actually worked, the possibilities were endless. Especially for him. He smirked.

"We could do anything we wanted," the sly thief replied, and Ryou found he didn't trust where this was heading, "I simply suggested that maybe we shouldn't." Victor stared at Bakura incredulously. Like Ryou, he had learned he didn't trust the old thief much, either. He had a feeling that if the world did fall apart, it'd most likely be due to _anything_ Bakura had said. Or done. Victor turned right back to the machine. It sat motionlessly in the living room.

"First thing we need to know is how to get the damn thing to actually work," the Esper explained, and glanced at Malik, "I'm just assuming you know this part." Malik nodded, grinning as he walked toward the machine, and presented the small screen to them. Closer up, Ryou saw it was actually a computer of some sort, crafted into the metal siding. Perhaps Malik wasn't completely insane, after all.

"I do," Malik replied, and pointed to the keyboard, "See this? You type in the coordinates of where you want to head, and then in what time, and you'll head there." That seemed simple enough. A little too simple, if Ryou had to guess. Aeon himself said time-travel was a difficult process; how the hell Malik managed to make it so easy was something Ryou found he didn't want to experience.

"And does it actually work?" Ryou asked him skeptically. Malik's grin faded somewhat. It was clear that _he_ personally had never gone back in time. And it was hard to convince Ryou that a pillow had made the journey in his stead.

"Er…" Malik laughed a bit, "Not exactly." But, he wasn't about to give up the chance. Ryou was almost convinced, and Yugi was already on his side. Before Ryou could intervene, Malik said, "But I'll test it now!" And with that, he entered something into the screen and pressed a button.

Just like that, the machine vanished. There was no howling of the winds, no dimming of the lights, no normal sign that magic was very much alive in the Bakura residence. In a split second, without any warning, the machine simply disappeared in the briefest flashes of light. Malik barely processed what had happened before he reached out with an arm, grasping at something that was not truly there.

"…where the hell did my machine go!" he exclaimed in terror, eyes widening as he looked all around. Yet, there was nothing to even indicate the machine had been there at all, save for the mess in the hallway. Even Ryou frowned at this.

"Perhaps one of us should've been _inside_ the machine?" he suggested, and Malik realized that he probably just sent his machine to the abyss. Except that there was a crash in the hallway, making both boys jump. Bakura, who was closest to the entrance, looked out to see what could have done such a thing; Rush was, as far as he knew, asleep in his bedroom, and Dithrambus had gone with Sith.

"…_shit!_" Bakura growled, and Ryou ran over to see what had happened. His mouth practically hit the floor. Right there, in the middle of the destruction, was the very machine that caused it. It was in perfect condition, and even the handle that had broken off had been replaced. Malik practically squealed in joy.

"It's back!" he declared, and jumped around, "I… I did it! It works!"

"That doesn't prove it works," Bakura growled, and Malik stopped, "It just proves the damn thing's indestructible." Malik wasn't sure whether that was meant to insult him or not, but he knew Bakura wasn't convinced that its return was a good thing. But he was, and it was _his_ machine, first and foremost.

"Well, we know there's a fail safe now, so I'm going to test it," the blonde said seriously, and the other four stared at him, "It's my machine. If there's a problem, I should be the first to know about it." That was some pretty noble reasoning on Malik's part, and Bakura had to say he was impressed. Maybe there was something Malik could do to help them, after all.

"Boys, you're all three kinds of crazy to be attempting this," the old thief said slyly, "I'd be on Sith's side, if she said you shouldn't be trying. But since she isn't here, there's no voice of reason telling me to stop you." Ryou had always thought _he_ was the voice of reason, but it was clear Bakura only heeded Sith's moderately harsh warnings. Considering her age, compared to Ryou's, Ryou saw why. He took a breath.

"I'll go, too," Ryou said, and Yugi agreed with, "Count me in, guys!" Victor laughed, and gave the thumbs-up to show his own consent. And with that, the four decided to continue the test. This time, they'd use themselves for it. Bakura, however, declined. He explained that if something happened, someone needed to stay, with Victor's watch, to drag them back. Ryou agreed, impressed with Bakura's reason. Normally, the thief was willing to do just about anything. That was only because Sith's knowledge tempered his recklessness, however.

"So, what kind of test are you thinking?" Bakura asked them, as Yugi and Ryou opened the machine door and stepped in. On the outside, the machine was small, but it was clear it expanded into some sort of pocket of space, for it could easily fit them all inside. Malik shrugged.

"Something easy," Malik said, as Victor typed in the coordinates, "Just a few moments backwards to make sure it's actually able to do it. Then we'll try bigger increments." That made sense to Bakura, and he let them go. Within minutes, the machine was gone, and Ryou felt them all plummet off something unseen, like they had been shoved clear off a cliff. Then, abruptly, it stopped. The door opened…

And Ryou found that he was staring right at himself.

"Malik, where did you send us?" Yugi asked suspiciously, as he saw himself sitting exactly where he had been ten minutes ago. Malik blinked, realizing he had done the one thing Sith would've wanted to avoid _at all costs_: he created a temporal paradox.

"…I should've gone for a few hours instead of ten minutes," Malik grumbled in disbelief, as his past counterpart walked in. But for all the counterparts in the room, including Bakura's, he noticed Victor didn't have one. He looked back. The Esper was clearly there with them, but his past counterpart should have been, too.

"Aeon's going to murder us when he finds out," Victor said warily, knowing he was already in trouble with the time-keeper, "Malik, you had better get our asses out _now_." Unfortunately, Malik wasn't sure that'd do it. Yugi looked up at the Esper.

"What's going on?" he asked innocently. Victor's grim visage worsened.

"We've started a paradox," Victor explained simply, "It's going to create a chain event where more and more sets of ourselves will warp back here unless something's done to halt it." But not even Sith knew how to end a temporal paradox. Then again, Victor was thirty years from the future. Sith might have learned, or Aeon might have told her how.

Not that it mattered much. By the time Victor was done, another time machine entered the hallway, and this time, Malik, Yugi, and Ryou walked out again. Malik was painfully aware, however, that Victor still had no counterpart to contend with. He looked to the amused Esper.

"You didn't give us enough time so that this wouldn't happen," Victor said with a grin, "Set number four's on the way." Malik didn't care how Victor knew that. All he wanted was someone to _fix_ this before Sith came back and did it her own way.

"What the hell are we supposed to do!" Malik asked in frustration. Victor's eyes glinted, much like Matt's did whenever he had an idea – a particularly bad one, but one nonetheless.

"Go back to the present, and leave this to me," Victor told them all eerily. Ryou didn't like that tone, but he found he liked the new explanation even less, "Mom always said if you can't find an exit, you need to make one." That pretty much ensured that whatever Victor planned would be very destructive.

"_Victor!_" Ryou called, as Malik dragged him and Yugi back to their own machine. The last thing he saw, before the door closed, was that deadly look in Victor's eyes, similar so much to Sith's. But what accompanied that look, was a grin. A grin of an idiot who knew that what he was going to do was going to have severe consequences. It looked like a grin Axel would have had, not Saix.

When Ryou and the others were safely gone, Victor turned to look at all of the clones, including the new set that had just appeared. Twenty people in all, twenty soulless little buggers wandering around through the astral planes unless he ended their non-existence. He could do that. He was the son of Sith and Saix. His grin became more feral. And in a flash, his eyes went golden. Soon, he had no more opponents to fight, as they lay dead at his feet just moments later. He'd have made his father proud. His mother wouldn't be, but she'd have understood. Killing them was the only way.

Taking out Aeon's watch, Victor opened it and wound it up twice. It ticked, slowly at first, and then sped up until the time was thirty moments from that point. In a blast of light, Victor was gone. He reappeared instantly in Ryou's living room, but this time, Ryou, Malik, Yugi, and Bakura waited for him anxiously. He smiled and waved when he saw them.

"Miss me?" Victor asked, when Bakura suddenly rushed up and grabbed him by the collar. Victor's eyes widened. Not the welcoming he wanted.

"What the _hell_ did you _do,_ child!" the thief demanded, and Victor's ears flattened. That was a question his mother would have asked. Same tone, same emphasis.

"…I killed them," Victor replied quietly, "The clones." That only made the situation worse, and Bakura let him go. He cursed and swore, switching between Egyptian and English, and shook his head. Victor _killed_ their past selves. They were lucky the aftershock only sent shivers up their spines.

"You… _killed_ them," Bakura repeated, eyes narrowed, "You… the _son_ of Sith… _killed our past selves! ARE YOU INSANE!_"

"Bakura, stop!" Ryou said, standing up, "He did what he could!" Bakura turned to glare at Ryou. To him, there was no excuse for being sloppy. Or for causing a temporal paradox in the first place. Ryou shivered at that glare. Bakura was _pissed_.

"He nearly destroyed us all!" Bakura yelled back, and kicked the table, "Would _Sith_ have done that? Would she have been so careless?"

"Victor isn't Sith!" Ryou exclaimed, and at this, Bakura fell silent, "…Bakura, I know you miss her. But you can't blame Victor for this. It isn't his fault she's gone." Bakura shook visibly. He knew that. But damn it, this was _her son_, and he was acting like a fool! Surely, she had taught him far better.

"If you children do anything that foolish again, I'm sending you all to the realm of shadows," the thief growled seriously, and there was something in his eyes that worried Ryou, "I won't stop you idiots from going back in time and dragging her ass back here, but do not _ever_ put our world in such danger again!" Ryou didn't know just what danger that was, but Bakura's point was made. He nodded, swallowing hard.

"We… we will bring her back," he promised quietly, but even in his own ears, it sounded hollow. But that was simply because Bakura had just terrified him. The old thief scoffed, shaking his head.

"You're damn right you will, and I'm going to make sure it's done _right_," Bakura corrected, and at this, Ryou's mouth dropped, "To hell if Sith's son is going to destroy the worlds she's trying to protect. To hell again if that shit happens like last time." Ryou understood Bakura was talking about Rath now, and wondered if his own memories had been awakened when Sith's were. He'd have to ask… at a proper time, of course.

Ryou turned to Victor, Malik, and the machine. All three of his friends were waiting patiently, and he knew stalling would only frustrate Victor. So, he nodded, and the door to the machine was opened. Malik punched in the coordinates… and they went inside. The door closed, and in a flash, the machine was gone.

Ryou did not realize that Malik had just made a fatal error in his haste to get them moving.

-(End Chapter)

With Malik showing a spark of interest in temporal physics, the group now has the means to locate Sith and bring her back to their world. But with such fragile, and unsafe equipment, even a tiny mistake could cause disaster for the whole of Oblivion. Will the team end up in the past, far enough to find Sith and get her home? Or has Malik screwed up once again and sent them too far – or even too soon – into the past? Find out next chapter, so click that Review button!


	2. Victor's Heritage

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or Final Fantasy XII. Takahashi owns Yu-Gi-Oh, and he says that doing the whole time-traveling arc is hard. Square-Enix owns Final Fantasy XII, and they won't make a new class based on Nobodies. Which is sad.

"So… anyone have any idea how long this takes?" Yugi asked, as the machine sped rapidly across the timeline. It seemed to be an eternity since they entered, but there were no clocks in the machine, and the single window depicted only black, with few sparks of light to indicate different eras or fragments of time. Ryou couldn't be sure how long they'd been traveling: it could have been a second, or it could have been an entire millennia. Malik looked at a smaller terminal inside the chamber; it depicted symbols Ryou did not know. And promptly, Malik's frown worsened.

"It could be a long while," he said grimly, and his eyes hardened as he looked up at them squarely, "We're literally traveling on a stream of compressed time. Depending on what era Sith's in, we might not even find her if my machine's limitations are maxed out. Five minutes and three millennia are huge differences of time." Ryou was impressed that Malik seemed to understand the concept of time-travel, and was more so when the man admitted that this might be a failed attempt. He looked out the window, hoping Sith was doing better than they were; her magic was far more powerful than anything they could have built, even with her son's help.

"For Oblivion's sake, let's hope it doesn't take long," Ryou said quietly, and bit his lip, "I'm not sure about you, but I don't feel safe wandering in a time zone we don't belong in." Neither did Bakura. He chuckled, shaking his head.

"Personally, I don't blame you," the old thief commented, and the four stared at him, "I can't say from experience, but I've watched enough movies to know that shit will hit the fan if we even so much as _look at_ something we shouldn't interact with." Ryou's eyes flattened. When it came to experience, he wasn't actually sure how much he could trust Bakura. And when he went to comparing their situation to a _movie_, that's when things were bad.

"Bakura, this is _not_ a movie," Ryou grumbled, and turned to Yugi, "It shouldn't be long. If Sith passed through here without a machine, we might be all right for a while." That seemed to comfort the younger boy a bit. So, it wasn't surprising when Bakura intervened again.

"Sith's magic is more stable than this scrapheap," Bakura reminded them pessimistically, "If it malfunctions, we may be stranded with no way to return unless someone reaches that crotchety, old wench." Judging by the utter fury in both Ryou and Victor's eyes, they didn't find that comment funny. Bakura had a feeling he'd be missing some teeth soon.

"Bakura, shut up," Ryou growled, as Victor exclaimed, "What'd you say about my mother, you old bastard!" Bakura backed up. And was promptly shoved against the wall when the machine sped up, throwing everyone to the far wall. Ryou heard a crack, and Victor cursed when Malik smashed into his elbow. For ten agonizing minutes, the velocity of the trip kept them pressed to the wall. Then, suddenly, the machine crashed, spitting them out.

Ryou wasn't sure where they were or what had happened, but wherever they were, it wasn't Nesce, it wasn't Domino, and it wasn't Egypt in any way shape or form. For one thing, it was too cultured; wild grass and flowers littered the field they had landed in, and in the distance, he saw the outskirts of a city. It looked relatively modern, at least from the silhouette. For another, there were no farmlands in Domino; nothing but city living for miles upon miles, and any fields they did have were occupied with highways. He wasn't sure about Nesce… but there was almost no sign of magic in this world. Nesce would have been burning with magical scent.

His next glance went to the machine. It looked relatively undamaged, which was a miracle, considering the battering crash it took. Malik was already up and working, though, and that told Ryou something wasn't quite right. Curious, and now worried, Ryou ran over to him. He was mumbling. That was _never_ a good sign.

"…shit," Malik growled, and took a breath, "What the hell? I set the coordinates. We should have gone back three thousand years, and landed in what would have been the royal quarters. By my calculations, Sith should be right about there if Aeon's magic is any good." Ryou had a feeling something went wrong with Sith, but that was another adventure for tomorrow.

"Good news is, we're in the past," Bakura said, though his tone still seemed grim, "At least we know we can travel." That wasn't good enough. Ryou had to know if they could _get back_, let alone attempt to go even farther. If they failed to find Sith, they needed _some_ level of reassurance.

"Can you fix this?" Ryou asked Malik, completely ignoring Bakura. Malik hummed, trying to type something on the outer terminal. He got an error, and his visage hardened. Whatever was going on, it wasn't good. He shook his head, his shoulders sagging.

"No use. Damn thing's out of power," he replied bitterly, "We'll need a power source of _some_ kind, but the one I used was a crystal shard. Katt said those were the most stable." That was awfully convenient for Katt to own such a component. Ryou wondered how she managed to get it at all. Then he shook the question away. They had a problem that needed immediate attention. Yugi, who'd been observing them with Victor, frowned as another error was received.

"If we're in the past, how can we even be sure there _is_ a power source?" he pointed out, and Malik looked back at him, "Our best bet is to see if Sith was here, or see if we did end up in Egypt, and ask Yami for some help."

"We're not in Egypt, and even if we were, Yami would not help us. He would not even know us," Bakura said gravely, and sighed, "Looking for Sith is our best bet, but why would she come _here?_ I sense nothing magical about this land." Ryou was glad to know he wasn't the only one who felt that. He had a feeling Sith _wasn't_ here, but he dared not say that aloud. It would only frustrate Victor, upset Yugi, and anger Bakura. Ryou wanted to avoid all three scenarios for the same basic reason: it'd get someone killed.

"No, neither do I…" Ryou began, and caught sight of something by his foot. When he snatched it up, he saw it was some form of parchment, some kind of article. It was dated at 1506, roughly five hundred years before their own era. His eyes popped, and he told them about the article. Yugi snatched the paper at once.

"Ryou, are you _sure!_" Yugi asked, but the article did not lie. 1506, a time way before theirs, and way past Sith's. He couldn't see the connection. This could have been a random occurrence, but Malik had been _certain_ he input the data correctly. Something threw them off-kilter.

They learned the connection soon enough. Ryou suggested checking the distant city, and the investigation was on. The road, what was of it, was quiet and desolate, and travel was easy thanks to the somewhat agreeable weather. What bothered Ryou, however, was the silence. Only their voices and the tread of their shoes showed them there was any life, but aside from that, all was silent. There were no animals in the wilderness, and there had been no sign of a person since they arrived. As they neared the large city, it was getting clear that wherever this was, it was abandoned.

The city was modern, when compared to what Egypt should have looked like. The houses were made of a combination of wood and stone, and the streets were paved and well-cared-for. However, Ryou saw that there were steam generators and furnaces around, and that told him that, despite the obvious age difference to Egypt, the world they were in was powered primarily with steam. That was roughly around the 1500s. Ryou was almost amazed. Except that there might not be a thing to gain from this place.

"Where the hell are we?" Bakura asked, looking around the street. Though the cobble looked nice, the city could have fared better. The houses looked slightly dilapidated, some crumbling on the sides, hidden as they were in the dark alleys. All windows were blacked out; their residents were not home. And, there was a rancid, slight smell to the air that he did not like. He honestly didn't care where they were. He just wanted to _get the hell away_ before he was sick.

"According to the directory, we're in a city called Valle," Yugi read, and Ryou turned to him, "Definitely not Domino in any case. The layout's too different, and everything's steam-powered. Think we're in an Esper city?" Ryou considered that. Espers, from what Sith said, were masters of steam-engineering. Her uncle had been a genius in that field, and she was versed well in it, too. But again, the lack of magic told him it was _not_ an Esper settlement, or an Esper world.

"No," Ryou replied, and then seemed to hesitate, "There's only one scent of magic. Espers burn with magical scent." That was true enough, and Victor was proof. With him so close, Ryou couldn't even identify the other scent.

"One scent? What's it smell like?" Malik asked him, and then a thought occurred to him, "…is it Sith's? Maybe she _has_ been here." Ryou never thought the scent could have been from her. It was too slight, and it didn't smell like her. Hers was a floral, herby scent. This was more metallic. And it was way too weak. Even a trace of Sith's would have burned his nose, simply because of her bloodline.

"No, but it feels familiar," Ryou admitted, squinting his eyes as if to get a better grasp on it. But… it was lost too quickly. He sighed, and Bakura patted his back.

"You'll learn if we keep going," Bakura said gently. Ryou knew he was right, but the mere suggestion that it might have been Sith made him edgy. It'd been months since he saw her; perhaps her scent had changed. Plus, it had a clear effect on Victor, too. He seemed more alert, as if something were nudging him.

They took the western road into the more prominent district. The houses were in better shape; manors and gardens took over after a few blocks, and the air seemed fresher. If there was anything to find, it was most likely here. Not that there were people to ask, but Ryou felt the scent get stronger, as if what had caused it were closer.

The road eventually curved into a large court, and it was there that Ryou stopped the group. In the center of the court was a large, stone building, looking grim and black amidst the gray sky. There were large steps leading to a set of double-doors, and open windows that dotted the western and eastern walls evenly. Columns of black stone adorned the entrance into the building, and Ryou saw that, in precipices and perches of the roof, gargoyles sat in stony vigil. He shivered. From here, the building looked to be a fortress of some sort. But the scent was coming from within.

"Should we go in?" Yugi whispered. Ryou wasn't sure. There was a feeling of worry in him, something that told him this wasn't right. But Victor seemed more and more restless, and he doubted refusal would stop the half-Esper. He shrugged.

"Might as well," he said, and they walked up the steps. He touched the brass handle… and at once, felt a shock go through his body. It hurt him, paralyzed him for too many seconds too long. Then, it dissipated, and the doors swung open, admitting him.

The interior was dark and musty, as if the building had been sealed for far too long. Victor lit a torch on the wall, and Ryou saw they stood on a marble floor, a red carpet stretched to the other end of the expansive hall. He could barely see another set of double-doors at the end, and saw stairs on the eastern edge of the room. Atop the door was a shield with an ornate W on the end. Along with the symbol for Fenrir, the Esper of the Moon. Something was in there, all right. Fenrir did not protect humans without a reason. Ryou ran to the door, and when he touched the handle, again he felt that paralyzing shock before letting him inside.

The second chamber was much larger now, and though it was darker, Ryou could see the first row of pews from where he was. He blinked. He wasn't in a fortress at all. He was in a cathedral! And, if the crest of Fenrir was a judge, he guessed that it was dedicated to the worship of the Espers. When he took one step inside, the candles on the columns all lit up, throwing soft light across the room. The pews were made of fine oak. And at the end, where the altar stood, was a large statue. But it was not of a god. It was… of Sith!

Ryou and Victor ran to the altar, looking up at the massive stone masterpiece. It was Sith; her stern expression and soft features were unmistakable. The dress, however, was much more ornate than her current wardrobe. Ryou guessed this was her while she ruled Nesce. It confused him, though, as to why this world had a cathedral for her. As far as he knew, she was not loved by many worlds.

"What the hell?" Malik asked, as he, Bakura, and Yugi came up a moment later, "Is that… Sith!" Victor nodded, looking upon his mother's stone replica. Ryou saw him shake, and urged him to turn, to look back toward the hall again. Instead, they came face to face with the altar. On it was a whip, glowing purple, like Zealacht normally did. That was where the scent came from. Now, it burned Ryou to smell. He looked down at the small plaque.

"Stheno's Whip," he whispered, and Victor's expression changed. Whatever it was, or why it was here, seemed to calm the boy a bit.

"Is that an Esper weapon?" Yugi asked, as Bakura squinted his eyes and said, "What does the damn plaque said, Ryou?"

"My mother's whip," Victor said quietly, eyes dabbed with tears, "Supposedly, it was lost when my mother fled from your world three thousand years ago. But my father found it for her in the future. That's what he used to propose to her, show her he would do anything for her." Ryou nodded. That meant it was more important than anything to Victor. Without it, he wouldn't exist.

"So, we just leave it?" Malik asked. Ryou felt they should; if they took it, Saix wouldn't find it, and might not marry Sith in the future. Which meant Victor would vanish. Ryou couldn't do that to his friend. He nodded.

"We can't tamper with anything that might change the future," Ryou reminded the blonde, and bit his lip, "We touch that whip, and not only could we lose it, but Victor might die." Bakura understood the severity, but Malik found that explanation hard to believe. To him, if they lost it, all it meant was that Saix might need to spend some more time looking for it. Not a big deal… right?

"But what if _we_ were meant to drop it somewhere for Saix?" Malik reasoned, but that made far less sense than just leaving it here, where it belonged. Yugi felt the tension in both Ryou's and Victor's stares, and he looked back down at the whip. It seemed to stop glowing.

"So, your dad proposed to Sith with this," Yugi said, and when Victor nodded, he looked up and asked, "Any idea why it might be here? Why was it lost?"

"My mother said that the war with Rath ravaged her world, and that a lot of the ancient relics in the kingdom were sent scattering to many different worlds," Victor replied, and shrugged, "She couldn't possibly find them all, even with the power of the throne behind her." Malik whistled. He knew Sith had some sort of nobility in her blood, but Victor's tone implied she was directly involved with the throne.

"So, she was the princess of Nesce," he concluded, shaking his head, "Damn it, no wonder Rath wants her dead. If hierarchy there is anything like it is in Egypt, the throne only passes to a different family when all heirs have been eliminated." Victor just grinned knowingly. Sith's royalty was just a few steps ahead of that, and her life even more complicated.

"Actually, my mother is the queen," the Esper replied smugly, and Malik's mouth dropped. No wonder Rath wanted her dead! No wonder the damn wench was so demanding, either.

Malik would have asked more about it, but there was a rustling by the entrance that told them all they weren't alone. All at once, the group fell silent. Yugi and Ryou ducked behind the altar, and Malik slipped behind the statue. Victor leapt onto the ceiling, and Bakura, who was a spirit, merely faded from view and snuck toward the arches to see who had broken in. He couldn't see, not with how dark the front hall was. But he heard a voice, distinctly male, and very powerful.

"Who's here!" the voice demanded firmly, and Bakura heard the ring of a sword being drawn, "Who's broken into Sicht-Cardaenia?" Ryou knew the last word was from the Esper tongue, but what it meant, he didn't know. And he didn't quite care. There was only the thick stained glass windows to escape from, and there was no way they could break them open. They were trapped unless they hid well. Which, aside from Victor and Bakura, none of them could do.

"….oh _shit_," Malik hissed. Ryou wished he hadn't spoken. His whisper echoed across the chamber as if he'd screamed it. Bakura heard the sound of heavy boots tramping across the floor, and soon saw the man who'd entered the building. He was fairly tall – taller than Malik – with blonde hair that reached his shoulders. He was garbed in patches of silver armor, but underneath, they could see he wore simple leather armor. If they took the whip, they could probably kill him in one hit. Malik was not above that.

"Halt, you fiends!" the man cried, when he saw the three, "What business do you have in this holy ground! State it now before the Queen's spirit herself comes to end your lives." Ryou severely doubted Sith would have actually killed _anyone_ in that room, but the man seemed to think she would. He glanced at the whip. Aside from the statue, that was the only thing of relative value in the room.

"We're here to retrieve the whip," he said, and felt Victor's glare upon him. He knew they couldn't really take the whip, but he had a plan. He just had to get to a point where he could use it. The man stared for a long time. That wasn't good.

"You will do no such thing, you thieving swine," the man growled, and his eyes narrowed, "That whip belonged to the queen who saved our world during the catastrophe. To take it would be to take the very spirit of our beloved lady." Ryou realized he might be looking right at one of Sith's advisors. He'd have to work fast to keep on the man's good side.

"Would that queen happen to be named Sith Winchester?" Ryou asked him, and the man froze for a moment. That was correct, but only a few outside of the church knew the old legends; Sith had long since been gone for over one thousand years. Who was this boy?

"Yes. She is," the man said, and arched a brow, "Why on earth do you need the whip?" Ryou knew he had a choice. He could either explain that Sith was _alive_, or he could simply steal the whip and run. Both had equally enormous consequences waiting for him at the end of the line. Besides, he couldn't kill Victor off like that. He had to do something.

"Because of me," Victor said, and Ryou looked up to find Victor leap off the ceiling and land next to him, "Because I am Sith Winchester's son." Ryou glared this time. Now he was just being an idiot.

"What are you _doing!_" Ryou whispered harshly. Victor's lips thinned.

"Just trust me," came the equally grim reply, and Victor continued, "I am here to reclaim the whip. As her heir, it rightfully belongs to me."

"The… the queen… has a son?" the man asked quietly, eyes glassy with disbelief, "Impossible! She… she did not marry, she did not have children when she left! How!" How was a good question, one Ryou wasn't sure Victor could answer. But it was clear on the man's face that he had a plan of some sort.

"She did," Victor replied quietly, and everyone stared at the Esper as he looked down, "Secretly."

"Is he _serious?_" Malik whispered, as Bakura shook his head and said, "This will never work." But Ryou knew it very well might. There was something to Espers, something that made all other races believe what they said, even if it was riddled with lies and conspiracy. This man, whoever he was, was no different. To work even more to Victor's favor, the man was loyal to Sith. He looked at the younger man seriously, judging the worth of his words.

"Can you prove you are Sith Winchester's own blood?" the man asked, "I will not hand over her whip to anyone else unless they are her family." Victor grinned now. He had many things to prove his bloodline. Sith's pendant was one – however, if the man did not know of the pendant, it did no good. Another was a mark recognized by all races throughout history: the mark of Oblivion. It was burned into Sith's right hand when she plunged herself into the abyss to kill Rath three thousand years before. It would be burned into her children as well. Victor held up his right hand, and sure enough, he had the same mark. It wasn't as twisted, but it was there.

"Only my mother has this mark," he replied solemnly, and that was more than enough. The man's skin paled. _Only_ Sith had such a horrid scar. And it was legendary. Victor's plan was working well.

"Sith's… son," the man whispered. He had stalled too long. Victor now advanced toward him.

"Who are you?" the young Esper demanded firmly, and Ryou saw his gold eye gleam, "How do you know of my mother?"

"Allow me to introduce myself," the man said, bowing and placing a hand over his heart, "I am Basch von Ronsenburg, soldier to the kingdom of Damascus, defending of justice in Ivalice, and devout in the legend of the Esper Queen." That explained the shrine to Sith. Only partly, but at least they understood who the man was.

"I'm Ryou Bakura," Ryou said brightly, and Basch looked down, "Over there is Yugi Mutou, Malik Ishtar, and Bakura… Bakura." Victor snorted, and Bakura's eyes went flat. But any humor shared was hidden well by the older man. He smiled at them all. But only for an instant. Then, a worried look crossed his face.

"May I ask the intention you have for the whip?" he asked Victor, and the Esper tilted his head curiously, "Believe me, I do not doubt your bloodline. But that whip has been in this world for nearly two thousand years. It is, unsurprisingly, a part of our lore." Victor understood that. In truth, he had no intention of taking the whip and ruining his father's proposal to his mother. He just didn't share that with anyone.

"Do you want the honest truth?" Victor countered just as quietly, and his gold eye burned now. Basch froze, as if death itself walked behind him. Ryou knew that look; he had gotten it too many times when he first met Sith. It normally meant the answer would drastically affect the target's future.

"…yes," Basch finally said. Victor smiled. His plan was now locked and sealed.

Victor told Basch everything. About his bloodline, about Sith, about where they came from, and how they'd gotten to his world. He explained every detail, explained the truth of the war between Espers and Mystics, and explained that Sith was currently in a lot of danger and they needed to find her. Basch listened intently, and any terror he held, he hid well. It never once surprised him, nor did it seem to lessen his belief in their story. It was almost frightening. Conveniently, however, Victor did not explain the whip's story, nor did he say who won the battle: Sith, or Rath.

When it was all said and done, it was nearly half an hour before Basch said anything. In truth, he didn't know quite what to say. As a loyal knight to the king, even mentioning any of this could cause his death. But as a chosen guardian, he knew that what he was told had to be the truth. Magic could literally do _anything_. Warping a man a thousand years into the past was the least of its power. Warping a man who happened to be Sith's son was even better. But one question remained. Where was Sith? When he had asked, no one could answer. Again, not a surprise.

"And so you are searching for her," he concluded, and Ryou nodded, "Where do you intend to look?"

"We don't know. We'd thought she'd gone into the past to find the third sword," Ryou admitted sadly, and his lips thinned, "But we have no idea how far back she's gone, or if she's still alive." Basch looked down, trying to think of a way to help them. There was no doubt that if she were traveling across time, she'd eventually go to visit Nesce before it became a pile of ruins. But when she'd get there was the exact same thing Ryou couldn't answer.

"I might be able to help you determine where she'll end up," Basch told them, and Ryou stared incredulously, "The kingdom of the Espers was ransacked, but not destroyed. It may still be standing, and if it is, the tendrils of magic within will be potent. We may be able to access a temporal wormhole and use magic to locate where Sith is from there." The only problem with that was that it'd involve looking for Sith in this era. All of them, except for Victor, were powerless in this world, and anything they did might seriously destroy the future.

"Couldn't we do it in our time?" Malik asked him, brow arched.

"Not if Nesce is ruined in your time," Basch replied grimly, looking at him seriously and crossing his arms, "Magic cannot be destroyed, but it can be released when the surrounding structure is decimated. If there is any magic to the future Nesce, then it is so clouded with evil that it cannot be used." Sith did say Nesce was no more in their time. So much for that idea, then. But Victor had another thought. The magic might be gone, but would the portals? When he asked Basch, the man said, "I don't know."

"Maybe we could get Xemnas to go into the kingdom and use the portals for us," Victor suggested, but Ryou already ruled that out. That would do no good; it might even prompt Xemnas to kill Sith. He was a shaky ally at best – it was only because of the fact that Sith barely had a heart that he helped her. But Saix might be assurance for his cooperation. Would the wild man be willing to help Sith?

"Think it's worth it?" Yugi asked, and Ryou tapped his chin. It was a nice possibility. But would Rath destroy a Nobody?

"We could try," Ryou finally consented, and Victor had a triumphant smile on his face, "But the portals could be guarded." That wasn't enough to stop Victor, and it wouldn't have stopped his father, either. Hell, it'd have barely slowed Sith down, and she was the least likely to agree to the notion. Ryou wasn't surprised when no one backed down.

"If he's descended from Sith, then the boy's unstoppable," Basch remarked with a chuckle, when Victor's response was to draw a two-handed blade that seemed to materialize out of thin air. Ryou noted the pointed tone.

"How so?" he asked. He had a feeling it wasn't just because of Sith or Saix. And he was right. Basch turned to the statue behind them. Ryou looked at it; still looked like Sith, and still looked different enough to _not_ truly be Sith. He felt a newer energy, though. A stronger one. A distinctly male energy.

"Espers are normally named after gods or warriors of old," Basch explained to him quietly, "Sith is derived from Sicht, which is the name of Nesce's oldest warrior, the one who began the throne of Aeroglyph at all. He slain the god, Karakkys, Kratz's father, and brought peace to all of the planes of being. He was, in a way, a god himself.

"Then, of course, there is Sith's mother, who was a fallen goddess," Basch continued, and Ryou remembered what Mello had said a while ago, pertaining to Sith's ability to shape-shift into a terrifying feline-like monster, "She fell when her wings were ripped off by Terghazt, but she was the matron of healers and dream-weavers, and her magic rivaled many gods." That explained Sith's overwhelming power, as well. No wonder everyone was so afraid of her. With Sicht's namesake, and her mother being a goddess, Sith was loaded for bear.

"So now we're looking for a psychotic bitch of a _goddess?_" Malik asked flatly, and sighed, "Goody gumdrops." Ryou felt Victor growl at the insult, and so he knew he had to intervene before someone dropped dead.

"Before we go around and call Sith anything more than _Sith_, why don't we focus on getting home and getting Xemnas to do this," Ryou suggested wisely, "Then we can call Sith whatever we want after she kills one of us for even trying this." Malik laughed and agreed to that.

Basch led the way out of the cathedral, and Bakura took over through the city. The walk was nearly silent; everyone had a lot of things to think of, with Victor being the most prominent. Before he left the cathedral steps, he dropped Stheno's Whip, hoping that what he had to do didn't change much of the future. He knew already that taking Basch out of the flow of time was going to destroy any hope the man had for a future, and any family he created. He knew it meant there was one less powerful bloodline. He just had to hope the watch transformed _everyone_ it touched into a wandering soul like him.

The city had been dismal when Ryou first entered, and it neither worsened nor improved by the time he was leaving. He looked silently at the stone buildings, the steam generators, and could say he did not want to return to this world. He just didn't belong here, none of them did. He also couldn't understand why Sith was revered, why the cathedral was dedicated to her. Judging by the state of some of the city, he wondered what future this world had, and if it had been affected in any way with the war that ravaged Nesce. He also silently wondered if Basch had been in the war, somehow. It'd explain why he prayed to Sith.

Those were questions that would need to wait. The machine was exactly as they had left it, and the walk back proved to be quicker than the walk to find the cathedral. As soon as it was in sight, Malik ran to the outer terminal and input the coordinates so they could get home and map out another route. This trip wasn't exactly a success, but they learned enough to know they were getting closer. They just needed to know when the war happened.

The only one who knew this was standing right next to them. Bakura watched patiently, waiting.

-(End Chapter)

Sith isn't in that era, and now Ryou has the responsibility of making sure Basch survives the trip across the time-space continuum. With only slightly more knowledge about Sith in hand, Ryou can only guess where in time she's gone, and what else she's managed to find. What time will he try in his next attempt? What consequences have befallen his era, and his world? And will Basch suffer from culture shock? Find out all these answers next chapter, so click that Review button!


	3. The future of Sith

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, Kingdom Hearts, or Final Fantasy XII. Takahashi owns Yu-Gi-Oh, and Square-Enix owns Final Fantasy XII and Kingdom Hearts. None of them like that Saix has a family. I think he deserves one.

Tea hadn't known why she felt inclined to come to the house. It'd been three months since she'd seen Ryou, and because she and Miho had gone to New York for the summer, she hadn't even called him. They had come back the previous night, but all through the train ride, Tea had an ongoing sense that something wasn't right. She normally didn't like to heed that sort of feeling, but she learned through the years that it was those feelings that mattered most. It was those feelings Sith had respected most, and damn it, the woman taught both girls well. So, when Miho had said she felt it, too, Tea knew the next move was to see Ryou and ask him what was going on.

The only problem was, no one was home. Tea had come and seen the car was gone, but when she found the door unlocked and the hallway in semi-ruins, she knew her gut instincts were right. She rushed in and started shouting for Ryou, running across the broken glass and blasted walls. But there was no response. It was an eerie silence, the kind that you'd only feel in times of absolute desolation. And she didn't like it. Right then, she wished she'd brought a gun with her. That silence almost always meant there was a monster waiting right around a corner. A monster, or a Mystic, and Tea wasn't sure which was worse.

"What happened here?" Miho asked quietly, almost afraid that there really was something in the house. Tea couldn't even answer. She wanted to know the same thing. Glancing around, she looked down at the broken glass. It was possible there was a robbery. But then, where on earth was Ryou, and why hadn't Bakura fought back?

"Something bad, for one thing," Tea answered just as quietly, and walked into the living room. There, she was greeted with scorch marks and arcs of human blood; handiwork from Victor's encounter with the clones, and unfortunately, the hasty Esper hadn't seen that his work translated into the present. It looked like a horror movie.

"R-Ryou's living room!" Miho hissed, as both girls stopped and stepped back, "T-tea…"

"My god…" Tea wasn't sure what to think. From what she saw, someone had been murdered. There was no doubt; the blood _was_ human, and there was a _lot_ of it. Without equipment, she could only assume it was Ryou's, or an attacker's. She turned and said, "We need to call Yami. Go get the phone." Miho complied with no question.

Tea may have been a self-imposed student to Sith, but she had never truly taken the woman's way of approaching life, or her targets. Tea's way had been to be nice, to look the other way, and to make sure no one was hurt. Sith's was much more aggressive, and when Miho came back and said no one answered the phone, Tea understood that Sith's nerves were more suited for that answer. It was one thing for Ryou to be gone, to possibly be hurt. But where in hell was Yugi or Yami? Now Tea was really worried.

Sith couldn't be there to help calm them down, so Tea had to take charge. Miho was even less prepared for magic or for bad scenarios. Taking several deep breaths, Tea walked into a locked closet and kicked it open. That was where Sith kept her personal stash of weapons, when she had lived there. She had taken most of them, but there was still a chainsaw and a plasma pistol. Things that wouldn't have functioned if they went with her. Tea took both and handed the pistol to Miho. But that only scared the younger girl further.

"Weapons!" Miho exclaimed in terror. Tea glanced back. She nodded.

"This looks bad, Miho. I'm not sure what happened, but we're in the middle of it," Tea told her, trying to keep her own voice from shaking, "If we go outside, what's to say whatever killed Ryou in here didn't continue?" Miho considered the last time Domino was ransacked. That was pretty sound logic, considering that _monsters_ devoured the city. Even now, the destruction was still felt.

"What do you _think_ went on?" the younger girl asked this time, recovering a spark of strength. Tea had her guesses, and wished sourly that her mentor was there.

"If I had to guess, someone tried to kill Ryou," Tea replied, and they walked back into the living room, "There's no blue blood. It wasn't a Mystic, or if it was, they definitely succeeded."

"So… so Ryou might be dead?" Miho asked, and Tea knew she had said too much. But that was life; sometimes your friends were just gone. She nodded again, and nearly sat on the bloodied couch. Then she thought better of it.

"A chance," Tea said, and shivered, "Give me the phone. We're not staying here alone, not if what I think happened." Miho threw her the phone, and Tea dialed the number quickly. It rang for a few before Miho grew too curious.

"Who're you trying to call!" Miho finally asked her. But Tea's serious expression froze her in place. Then, she said the one name which filled Miho with more worry than anything else. Mainly because the man wasn't exactly stable, nor was he the strongest when it came to dealing with magic. He was simply mildly deranged.

"Ishtar."

Ryou watched as the darkness sped past them. They seemed to be going too fast, but he hadn't seen what Malik had put into the screen, and he didn't know if the machine had truly taken the command. For one thing, it was too foggy. He couldn't glimpse what any of the glass shards displayed when they passed the window. For another, the trip felt too long. They had only gone five hundred years into the past, and the trip took about ten minutes at the most. But it had been nearly thirty, and they hadn't landed. That worried him, and with good reason. He didn't want to go too far ahead of their era.

"Malik, where'd you send us to?" he asked, and looked back. Malik had been speaking to Basch, but now he was looking at Ryou. His lips thinned.

"I'm hoping I sent us to the year 2006," he said simply. That meant he also understood the machine might not have interpreted the command, too. Ryou didn't like that thought.

"You're _hoping_?" Bakura repeated incredulously, and now Ryou knew they were screwed. When _Bakura_ became suspicious, that meant what they feared was true. Malik blanched a bit, but there wasn't much he could do. Even if his machine's wiring was shit, he had nothing to repair it with.

"Unless you have electrical tubing and computer cables, you shouldn't question me," Malik reminded him aggressively. That sent Bakura back a bit, and he understood that Malik was frustrated with his work now. He almost felt bad for snapping.

"Is there a way to find out where we are?" Yugi asked, hoping he could dispel some of the tension that formed in the air. Victor shook his head, crossing his arms as he leaned against the wall.

"Not until we land," the Esper stated grimly. Bakura snorted. That was just perfect. If the damn machine malfunctioned, who knew when that would even be.

"Or until we die," Bakura grumbled. When he had three people glaring at him, Bakura threw up his arms and said, "What! You don't believe me? Do you idiots even know what could happen if we can't stop this thing? We're going into the _future_, and the future does not end, not truly. Unless we jam the machine, we'll be hurtling forward forever." It would've been nice if he wasn't being accusatory about it. Ryou had nothing to argue with; he knew nothing about time-traveling. But Victor did, and it was the fiery half-Esper who chose to argue with the equally volatile thief.

"And even if we're the ones who chose it, we can't control what the machine chooses to do," Victor reasoned, calmly at first, "You and I both know magic is unpredictable. Why are you acting like I _wanted_ this?" Bakura's scowl only worsened against the youth.

"Because you are a fool and a moron," the old spirit growled, "You know better. Your mother should have at least taught you that much. But what are we doing? We're running around with our heads cut off because you insist we find your mother. And what is she doing? The same damn thing, because she can't leave well enough alone, the crazy damned bitch." Victor was good when it came to taking an insult. But once Sith was insulted, he turned into just as much a beast as his father did. Victor's eyes went red.

"_What did you just call my mother!_" Victor yelled, and slammed into Bakura as hard as he could, "_You take that back, you decrepit bastard!_" Bakura staggered, but in human form, he was just as strong as if he were truly alive. He shoved Victor off, knocking the man into the wall.

"You really want to fight me, dumbfuck?" Bakura demanded hotly, and Ryou knew there'd be a brawl if they didn't stop, "Don't mess with me, you stupid boy, or I'll piss all over you. I knew your mother when she was a whelp of an Esper, too. She knows I think she's an idiot." That did nothing to quell the fire. Victor got up and charged again. This time, they both crashed to the ground.

"My mother is more powerful than you'll ever be," Victor growled furiously, "Don't _ever_ swear at her like that!" Again, Bakura threw him off. Now this was bad.

"Are _you_?" the old thief asked, and before Victor could get up, Bakura stomped on his back, "No, you aren't. You never will be, because you're as stupid as your mother, and as monstrous as your heartless father!" Victor screamed in pain, but Bakura stomped him again. Ryou had to act. Bakura was going too far, and if Sith had been there, she'd have torn him apart for treating her son that way.

"_Bakura!_" Ryou screamed, and tackled Bakura, trying to get him off his friend, "Stop it! Let Victor go! He _isn't_ Sith!"

"I'm fucking well aware of _that_," Bakura snarled, and turned to Ryou, "I'm trying to teach him better." His face was twisted in a mixture of disappointment and hatred. Ryou was now glad he hadn't married Sith; if he had, Bakura's face would look like that for years, no doubt. This was how he treated her _son_ after three months. Ryou didn't want to know what'd happen in three years.

"You're hurting him!" Ryou yelled, "What would Sith do if she saw you right now!" Bakura wanted to laugh. Sith wouldn't have done a damn, because she didn't even know Victor was her son. Even if she did, Bakura was the only one who could slam her right into a wall.

Bakura couldn't laugh. It was as if Sith had heard them all, for as soon as Bakura wanted to reply, the machine was rocked mercilessly. Everyone was thrown forward, and for a long moment, the power dimmed. The machine rocked, and then was still. Ryou felt the air above crackle with power. But it wasn't from Sith at all. It was something else, something that couldn't possibly be personified. Before he could get a wrap on it, the machine felt as if it were dropping, and then all at once, it crashed.

It was a painful landing. It felt as if Ryou's bones had shattered from the impact, and that his insides were made of jelly. Yet, through some miracle of the gods, he still stood. Despite the crash landing, all of them still managed to stand, and the machine hadn't caved in on all of them. Basch had the sturdiest nerves; it was he who ripped open the machine door, and he who was the first one to step outside and see just what world they managed to land in.

He wasn't sure what world that was. They had definitely landed somewhere, but wherever it was had been completely obliterated by a wide-scale blast of some sort. Whatever buildings still stood were crumbling, nothing more than piles of rotting wood and bricks barely holding onto the pieces of glass that hadn't yet fallen. The streets had been torn apart some time ago, so that only withered, brittle weeds grew in the cracks. The earth, like the streets, was cracked and dry underneath the broken cement. And, as Basch sniffed the air, there was a strong smell of dust and the air was amazingly stale.

Looking out further, past the scant remains of the city, Basch could see that the fields beyond were scorched. There were only few patches of dead grass, and whatever trees that stood were bare. Dust was kicked up by the wind. Underneath the harsh sun, it was a bleak scene to see.

"…where the hell are we?" Malik asked, coming up behind Basch. The older man shivered. He didn't know, nor did he want to. Wherever this was, they wouldn't likely find anything here.

"A ruined world," Ryou whispered, his throat feeling as dry as the ground beneath him, "A battered world."

"But which one?" Victor asked grimly, his eyes glowing as he beheld the ruins of the city, "Domino? Nesce? My father's world?" It was possible they were in Domino City, but Ryou doubted it was Nesce at all. There were no signs of any Espers; there were no signs of anyone else at all. It was as if all life had been… extinguished.

"Why'd the machine send us here?" Yugi asked quietly, which was the one question they all had asked silently, at some point in the last five minutes. Malik wished he could have answered – it was his machine, after all. But he couldn't even begin to guess. Unless this world had something to do with Sith in some way, there was no reason to be here. He said that much. Bakura just shook his head.

"Then that means she's here, somehow," the old thief said, looking around, "Can't find a trace of magic, but somehow, she's been here."

"We'd better start looking, then," Yugi said, and bit his lip. That was easier said than done. With everything utterly destroyed, even knowing where to start such a search was taxing. But they had to do something, so they decided to start on the very street they were on. Or whatever was left of it.

The only good thing was that there were many places Sith was _not_. With so few buildings left intact, and such an open space, there weren't many places for an Esper to hide, even with magic. Victor quickly found that the stale air was more than just stagnant; it drained his own power at a frighteningly rapid pace. If they were thousands of years into the future, his mother would be far older, and far more susceptible to any poisoning the foul air could give her. And if they were thousands of years into the future, his father was most likely dead.

The street wound around a few ruined shops, and eventually opened up into the destroyed town square. Ryou recognized the giant clock tower, even if it was a mile away. The square, as he remembered it, stretched on for nearly three miles and encompassed a small park, and about half of what used to be Kaiba's personal gardens. Unfortunately, like the fields outside the city, everything had been scorched and left to wither and die. The fountains were dried out, and the cement underneath was broken to pieces. The only thing that flowed were sludgy piles of sewage that still leaked through the bent grates in the gutters; it smelled horrible in the burning sun. Against such devastation, the clock tower was like a beacon of death.

"This is the fate of our world?" Malik asked, and those words hurt Ryou to hear, "What happened?" Ryou wanted to know the same thing. If Sith were here, she might have seen. And if it were actually the Sith from this era, she _would_ know. He just prayed she wasn't what caused it.

"Whatever did this is more powerful than any Esper," Basch commented gravely, gripping his sword until the muscles in his arms corded. Yugi looked up at him.

"You think something caused this? No earthquake?" the young boy asked, and then realized what Basch actually said, "…a Mystic!"

"No Mystic by any means," Bakura replied furiously, eyes blazing as he looked up at the tower, "Nothing human. Manmade, perhaps, but not a human directly." By Bakura's words, that meant a _weapon_ had destroyed this place. Ryou shivered. It reminded him vaguely of what he learned of the atom bombings in history. But something like that… did it exist in his world? He wasn't sure, though he knew the weapons existed _somewhere_.

"Then Sith might have seen it. She might actually be alive," Malik said, and that was the one thing Ryou was truly afraid of. Sith _was_ alive; but whether she was sane was another question. Only time would tell them of the older woman's fate.

The group split up. With no idea where Sith could have been, covering the area would have been faster with three parties as opposed to one, and with nothing to harm them – excluding the sun, perhaps – there was no reason not to consider it. Ryou and Victor both decided to search the immediate area; Yugi and Malik ran back toward the residential districts. Bakura took Basch and headed right to the old police station and Sentinel building. If Sith had actually left, she'd have to file a record of it. Only the Sentinel building would hold such a record. No one held objections, and it was only a few moments later when Ryou found himself with Victor, tramping across the dead patches of weeds, toward the dark tower in the distance.

The closer they got to the building, the more Ryou's nose itched. It wasn't noticeable – not compared to life in his own time, as more and more magical races came to live in his world – but eventually, he felt that familiar burning sensation. He looked up. They had come further than he thought. The building was blocking all other view, and he could now see the individual brickwork, and where the plaster keeping it together fell away. The clock had long since stopped working, and read that it was 5:28 indefinitely. As Ryou looked, he saw that one of the hands had been ripped in half, and that there were cracks in the glass. But aside from that, the building looked relatively unscathed.

"It still stands," Victor whispered, as they both looked from the large clock, to the door to the tower. It was bolted shut, but had not been kicked down or even splintered by whatever blew up the city. Ryou thought that even more suspicious.

"Something's in there," Ryou said after a long moment. Victor nodded his agreement. Quietly, both men walked up to the door and knocked. At first, there was no response. Then, the door opened. And a figure emerged.

It wasn't Sith, as Ryou expected. But it was clear that whoever it was, was related to her. He had the same straight nose and piercing eyes, the same frown as Sith wore. He was young, perhaps in his mid-twenties physically, and had blue hair that ran down his back. Like Victor, one of his eyes were green, and the other was golden. Like Victor, Ryou felt an immense power from this one. And he didn't look happy in the least to see Ryou.

"Who the hell are you?" the man growled furiously, and Ryou felt his insides shake. He had a feeling Sith had more than one child in her life, and this was one of them. The man waited for a moment before saying, "Damn it all, leave us be."

"Artemis, wait," Victor said, and came out from behind Ryou, "Stop… it's… it's me." The man, Artemis, stood and stared for a long time. It was as if he couldn't believe what he saw, yet he recognized Victor instantly. Then, he snorted.

"Victor? You're… alive?" Artemis whispered, and closed the door a bit behind him, "Where have you been? You… you've been gone for over seven years! Mother's been worried!" Victor's lips thinned. He figured as much, and could only imagine how Sith took that worry long-term.

"It's a long story, brother," Victor told him, and the next question came out forced, as if he didn't want to know the answer, "Is mother… alive?" Artemis nodded, crossing his muscled arms. It was painfully clear he had taken most of his looks from Saix, the one thing that separated him from Victor. Ryou didn't want to know if he inherited the man's strength, as well.

"Barely, but yes," the older Esper replied, and turned, "Come in." Victor and Ryou followed him into the tower, and the door shut behind them.

Inside, it was dark and musty, the air only a trifle fresher than what it had been outdoors. Ryou smelled magic everywhere, and was surprised that most of the furniture was undamaged. But instead of lights, there were candles on the tables, giving the room a dim and depressing atmosphere. And, sitting closest to the hearth was none other than Sith herself. Yet, it was still not the Sith Ryou had been hoping for. This Sith was older, somewhere in her physical mid-forties – that translated to being nearly six thousand years old! – and was a bit thinner than Ryou liked. Her hair was long, ending in a low tie at the end. Her clothes were somehow still somewhat modern. Like Artemis, she wore a leather suit underneath her blue tailcoat. Zealacht, however, was not on her hip.

"Mother?" Victor called, as Ryou said, "S-Sith!" Sith looked up. Her eyes looked far older than anything else. Darker, too. At first, she did not respond.

"…Artemis, who is there?" she asked calmly, which caused worry in Victor's heart. Surely, his own mother should have recognized him.

"Victor's returned, mother," Artemis assured her, "And he's brought someone with him, too." Sith nodded, but her eyes did not leave the two. It was almost scary; how could she not recognize the two men before her? It was all clear, however, when Artemis spoke in Ryou's ear, "Our mother has gone blind. The bombing of this world destroyed her sight." No wonder she hadn't responded to her own son!

"M-mother's blind!" Victor exclaimed, and Artemis's brows creased furiously. Ryou was sure that, had Victor not been as old as he was, Artemis would have slapped him across the face.

"Yes, our mother is _blind_," the older man growled, and then turned away, "Our father, for all we know, could be dead, and you just waltz back in here and expect it all to be okay? Do you have _any_ idea what has happened since… since…"

"Artemis, enough," Sith said gently, and both of her sons looked at her as she stared at nothing, "Do not blame your brother. What he did was to help us, not to cause trouble. And your father… may be alive." Sith's voice had gone shaky; it was clear she did not believe her own words. Ryou saw tears well up in the woman's eyes, and wondered where Saix had gone, or if he was still her husband.

"Mother…" Artemis said, his own voice quivering as he heard the sadness in his mother's voice, "…father has to return. He'd have never left, not without saying goodbye." Ryou wondered how long Saix had been missing, and what caused him to leave his own family. According to Victor, family was the only reason the man stayed sane at all.

"Sith… what on earth happened?" Ryou asked, and at this, Sith's own eyes widened. Now, she stared directly at Ryou. She might not have been able to see him, but damn it all, her stare was ever more piercing than before!

"R-Ryou Bakura…?" Sith whispered, and then laughed, "Well, now, I'd have never thought! Victor, what have you been up to, my dearest and youngest son?" Victor blushed heavily, as Artemis shot him a smug grin. Ryou himself let out a chuckle.

"Victor took Aeon's watch, and ended up in my own time. He took the guise of Shimbou," Ryou told her, and now she looked annoyed, "We… we came here because we were trying to find you, after you left to reclaim Nesce." This didn't surprise Sith, and when she forced Victor to relay the entire story, she found not one detail of it did. Victor was her son. She expected no less than a world full of trouble from one of her own, and it was evident in her own grin. Saix, if he returned, would definitely hear of this. More than likely, he'd have a lot to say of it, too.

"And now you cannot possibly return," she mused, and then frowned, "Unfortunately, my dear and old friend, I cannot help you." Whatever mirth she had given, died quickly at those words. Ryou stared at her unblinkingly.

"You… you can't?" Ryou asked, his voice ringing with desperation, "Sith… why?" Sith sighed, looking down at her hands. One was still gloved, the mark of Oblivion still strong on her skin. The other… looked withered, old. Dead, almost.

"The blasts… whatever caused them, released radioactive poison into the air. That was what killed millions of people. It blanketed so many worlds, thick as morning fog… your people died by the scores, Ryou," she told him quietly, "It ravaged the lands, turning the once-verdant fields into a barren waste, and turning water into poisonous sludge. As for me… the exposure I had burned my left hand permanently, and I grow ill by the day. It's eaten all of my power away, and soon, I will die and return to the abyss." Ryou felt himself shaking. That _definitely_ sounded far worse than anything he could have imagined. Artemis put his hands on his mother's frail shoulders, trying to lend her his strength.

"Unless our father returns with the cure," Artemis added, and quietly said, "But he's been gone for over three years now." Victor and Ryou looked at each other gravely. Three years exposed to the poison. Even Nobodies, and clearly Espers, had their limits.

"There's a cure?" Victor asked her, and Sith nodded.

"Vexen developed it. It took nearly twenty years, but he developed one and began administering it to the creatures in the World that Never Was," Sith explained, "The blasts of radiation were so powerful that it spilled over and infected hundreds of worlds. Some were ravaged, like this one. Others were completely destroyed, and are floating around as particles in the abyss.

"For a time, the cure worked wonders," the older woman continued, her voice growing grim, "But then… Vexen disappeared. The medicine he created was either infected, or stolen, for there was no more left when he vanished. Saix took me – at the time, I was pregnant with Artemis and this world was not so badly scarred – to that world to find Vexen.

"Instead, we found everyone else slaughtered. Zexion… Xemnas… all of them were killed," Sith continued darkly, and shivered, "The corridors were growing weaker, and we could barely return here, let alone find another world to live in. We had no choice but to return. Artemis was born, healthy as possible. I was, physically speaking, twenty-seven years old, and seven years later, I was pregnant with Victor. Again, a successful birth. I couldn't have been happier for it." Artemis and Victor both smiled with pride. Judging by that, Saix had been pretty happy, too. At least, as happy as a Nobody could have been.

"But… slowly, this world began to become more and more irradiated from the blasts that destroyed the worlds before," Sith said, and now her voice seemed to get shaky again, "Aeon came, seventeen years after Victor was born. He begged me to help him, to go back and destroy whoever tried to decimate all of these worlds. But by then, my power… was draining rapidly from my body. I could do nothing for him." Ryou looked at Victor, and so did Artemis. Everyone in that room knew the bitter truth: Victor's theft prevented Aeon from righting this wrong, and in fact aided the corruption of this world. And the illness within his own mother.

"Mother…" Victor whispered, and Sith looked at him, "Mother… I'm… I'm so sorry…"

"I knew it was you, my son," she said gently, and reached out to her youngest, "I knew why you did this. To stop it yourself. To save me from poisoning. To save your father." Victor nodded, and before he knew it, he fell right into his mother's arms and cried. He had _tried,_ and he had failed utterly. Ryou, frankly, was shocked. Victor had said he'd done that out of boredom. Now, he understood the truth. Victor had to save Sith, and couldn't even tell Ryou of it.

"I failed! Mother, I did nothing at all!" Victor cried out, and Sith hugged him tightly, her own tears splashing into his hair, "Mother… mother!"

"Victor, my son," Sith called gently, a voice that soothed him even against his own hysterics. She let go and looked at him in the eyes. She could not see him, but damn it, that didn't matter. She knew one of her children was in pain. She continued, "My son… no one here blames you for what happened. Your father left to find a cure because he could not find _you_. The corridors do not allow him to travel back in time." Victor sniffled, wiping his eyes. He didn't know much about the corridors Sith spoke of. No one, save for Sith, Saix, and the other Nobodies, did.

"Is Saix in one of these corridors?" Ryou asked her, and Sith looked at the younger boy, her eyes eerily boring into his soul despite her lack of sight, "I mean… if we find him, that will help you, won't it?" Sith did not blink, and for a long while, she said nothing at all. Ryou began to wonder if she had heard him. Then, she stood up and walked to the dirty sill. Even though she appeared to look out the window, Ryou wondered if she was looking into another world, another time.

"It will not help me," she said quietly, "Ryou, I let my husband leave because he believed he was saving my life. But I am too weak. With the cure, I still have no power and no strength left. I may have one thousand years left to me, but what years are those in this world?" Ryou's eyes watered. Never had he heard Sith speak so hopelessly! It was unlike her in every way. Whatever she had witnessed, it clearly took its toll on her. He shook his head. No! It could not end this way.

"Those are years you'll have with your husband," Ryou reminded her gently, and she turned back to face him, "Sith, if Saix dies without seeing you, think of how broken his spirit will be. Even if he's still a Nobody, he still cares about you. I can see it in your kids, and I see it now. You can't give up!" Sith hummed. She didn't _want_ to give up, but she was severely sick. Blindness would be nothing, not without that cure. And she knew there was no cure. Whatever medicine Vexen had created, he took his secrets to his grave.

"I cannot find him," she said calmly, "And neither of my sons can use the corridors of Darkness. They are not Nobodies." Ryou had still one thing Sith didn't: Bakura. He might be able to use such a corridor.

"Bakura might be able to," Ryou told her, and Sith looked up. At first, the answer confused her. Then, it merely didn't surprise her. Ryou would do anything to help her, and she damn well knew it.

"So the old bastard's still alive," she said with a chuckle, "But… you would do this for me? Ryou?"

"Why not? We cannot possibly return, either way," Ryou replied, "At least, not until Malik finds a way of fixing his machine." Sith chuckled again. Then, she smiled. The traces of age seemed to diminish further; she looked like her old self.

"I know how to fix your machine, if you bring it here," she told her friend, and Ryou looked at her incredulously, "I never once told you of my uncle. He was an engineer for my father, and taught me how to build machines and ships. I may be able to do something to fix it up." Now Ryou was surprised. Victor just laughed hysterically. Leave it to Sith to have a million skills up her sleeves, only to pull them out when they needed them.

"You… you can _do_ that!" Ryou exclaimed, but before Sith could speak, Artemis slammed his sword in the table, a warning to Ryou to not get his hopes up. It terrified the younger boy.

"Find my father _first_," Artemis growled, eyes glowing, "_Then_ maybe my mother, if she is healthy enough, will help you." Ryou decided then and there that he didn't like Artemis at all. And he knew the feeling was mutual. But before the fighting could get too bad, Sith held up her hand and silenced her eldest son.

"The portals can be accessed anywhere, but darkness spawns the biggest and most stable of them," she told Ryou, much to her son's anguish, "The old, underground train yard would be a perfect place. That was where Saix was last seen. I have no doubts he left through there.

"Whatever you do, however, I urge you to not fight the horrors that may come pouring out," Sith continued grimly, and Ryou's excitement dropped, "They are called Heartless for a reason, Ryou. They will devour both you and Victor." Ryou knew from the tone in her voice, that Sith believed firmly Saix had been attacked by such creatures. If they were anything like what Amber had summoned years ago, he had a reason to fear; only Sith had been able to successfully fight such things – and now they were even stronger, and Sith older!

"Don't worry about either of us, mother," Victor told her proudly, and looked to Artemis, "Take care of her while we're gone." For the first time since they'd arrived, Artemis smiled at his little brother. Even went so far as ruffling Victor's hair.

"Find our father, dummy," Artemis replied playfully. Victor nodded, and both he and Ryou turned to leave. Before he walked through the door, however, he looked back just once at his mother. So did Ryou.

Neither understood why she looked like her old self again. But since mentioning Saix, and talking of bringing him back, some of her vigor and strength returned to her. Almost as if it had gone into the abyss with him, and Victor's return ripped that void open and released it again. It was heartening to see. Silently, Ryou wondered if the same would have happened if she had married him, or Mello.

He didn't care to know. He was simply glad Sith was back again. They both returned their gazes to the door, and left the tower. The darkness waited for them, as usual. And hopefully, Saix was waiting as well.

-(End chapter)

With the future torn apart by an unknown calamity, Ryou and Victor managed to find Sith and see what's happened to Domino. The answer is, a hell of a lot. From disastrously explosive warfare on a distant world, to radioactive fog killing off millions, Domino itself is on its last hinges. Can Ryou find Saix and bring him back to Sith? Or has the mighty Nobody fallen in the darkness? Find out the answers next chapter, so click that Review button!


	4. The future of Saix

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, Final Fantasy, or Kingdom Hearts. Takahashi owns Yu-Gi-Oh, and Square-Enix owns Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts. Both feels Saix would kill Ryou. He probably would.

Tea and Miho waited anxiously inside Ryou's living room. Ishtar, unfortunately, had not answered the phone, and Kaiba was currently in a meeting with someone from the downtown metro. The only one they could get on the phone, successfully, had been Matt. And while the man was more than annoyed at being dragged right out of a killing spree on Fallout, when he heard what had happened and what Tea had found, he had said he'd be there as soon as 'fucking possible.' That had been… about an hour ago. Tea wondered if she should have called Rex instead.

"Think he's even coming?" Miho asked quietly, as Tea sighed and checked her gun for the fifth time. It was still locked and loaded, just like Sith had taught her. At the very least, if Matt didn't show, she could shoot anything that came to get them.

"If he's Sith's friend, he'll be here," the older girl replied, trying to sound confident. But inside, she wondered if Sith's disappearance did more than just leave a void in their world. It seemed as if everyone tied to Sith's life had suddenly vanished from Domino: Ryou, Malik, and Yugi were included in that.

They didn't need to wait much longer. Matt finally arrived, and Tea saw quickly why it had taken so long. Matt came complete with a laptop, and several heavy guns, from a flamethrower to a rocket-launcher, as well as several types of lever-action rifles. To tell the truth, it looked like the man was leading a single-man army. Tea actually felt… worried. She trusted Sith, but she did _not_ trust Matt or Mello. Considering that both of them really wanted to see Ryou dead, she felt her distrust was more or less justified.

"Matt, do you really _need_ all of that?" Tea dared to ask him, when he came into the house, opened one window, and set up a rifle on the sill. It was aimed directly for the neighbors across the street. He looked back at her, and his eyes gleamed.

"You never know what shit these Mystics will want to pull," the man said, in almost a growl, "With Sith and Aeon traveling the timeline, that bitch Rath will pull anything to try and off 'em both while they're nice and vulnerable – including trying to kill you guys to get to Sith." Tea's eyes widened. She hadn't really thought she and Miho were truly in any danger. But if Sith _thought_ they were… well, then, she certainly didn't envy Rath, should the mad Mystic have to face the force of Sith Winchester. Then again, she also wasn't nearly as old as either of them.

"So… then… she might really have killed Ryou?" Miho asked him. Matt stopped for a long moment. He doubted that was the case, especially since Mello didn't call him up, ecstatic to hear the news. He shook his head. Killing Ryou without his magic would've been too small a victory for Rath.

"She could have, but I don't think she'd bother," Matt answered slowly, and looked out the window, "Sith made sure everyone directly involved was removed from this world. Ryou didn't have much to do with this, anyway, so he's pretty much safe unless someone else wants revenge." Tea wasn't so sure. Ryou's first floor was torn apart; if not by a Mystic, then by _something_. But for all of the searching she did, she couldn't figure out what it was. There were no clues anywhere. Just a whole lot of broken garbage.

"Then what do you make of the house?" she asked him incredulously. Matt hummed a moment. Then he staggered forward suddenly. Something in the air trembled, then rippled for a long moment. Colors flashed in and out, stinging his eyes as they ran through the spectrum, and then finally settled back into a normal vision. It felt as if he'd just gotten very sick. And when it ended, and he looked at the two girls, they felt the same.

"What just happened?" Miho asked quietly, almost feebly. She had to sit down; it was as if her stomach had been turned inside-out, and her legs were made of jelly. Matt took a deep breath. Then, he grinned.

"One hell of a mess," he replied cryptically, and looked out of the window again, "One hell of a bloody, stinking mess."

Ryou and Victor found the others waiting for them as soon as they reached the square, where the machine sat motionless. They filled everyone in with what happened, what Sith had said, and the promise to find her husband. And when they were done, Bakura wasn't surprised by what Sith had said at all. He knew – from the moment he unleashed Zork, to the second Ryou even met Sith – that this world was screwed to eternity. He just never thought it was from irradiated smog. Even worse, he never thought Sith would become ill from it.

As they ran toward the old commercial district, where the ruins of the police department, marketplace, and Yugi's old store lay, Bakura said, "So, Sith thinks her husband was dragged into one of these corridors by those Heartless?" Ryou nodded, and then stopped when he actually _saw_ the ruins. Everything had been nearly leveled in the explosions; only a few piles of scorched brick and ash remained to remind them all of what used to be.

"Yes. He's been gone for over three years," Ryou said quietly, eyes never leaving the dismal state of the market, "And, she believes only spirits and Nobodies can access the corridors of darkness that he might've gone into." Bakura glanced back at him warily, knowing the implication immediately. _He_ was a spirit, and could have easily accessed one such tunnel.

"So what you're saying is that you want _me_ to play hero and find that lunatic for you," Bakura guessed, and he guessed correctly. Ryou just flashed a grin. Victor, however, creased his brows and tried to look mildly insulted with those words. He failed.

"Why do you people keep saying my father's a lunatic!" the frustrated Esper asked his friends. Ryou snorted, and Malik's brow rose with amusement. That question wasn't even worth answering. But Malik liked to torment his friends, so he answered regardless.

"How about because he is one?" the blonde countered, and Victor's mouth dropped. To him, his father was the strongest man in existence, and probably the only reason his mother still lived. His father taught him how to fight and survive in the wasteland. And while none of those lessons set in particularly well, at least the man tried.

"Yeah… well… At least _he_ lived through whatever blew your world apart," Victor mumbled. And again, any insult he had was shot down. This time, Bakura was the one who fired the gun.

"Barely. At the very least, he'd have gotten his facts straight about it, too," the old spirit pointed out, and when Victor's ears tilted, he added, "According to you, this shit happened ten years from our time. Considering your lovely brother, Sith gave birth last year." Victor blushed heavily, and Ryou guessed that math wasn't the older man's best subject in school. But that was a detail for later. Right now, they had a job to do.

The train yard was the same as when Ryou last saw it, in his own time. There were wrecked, busted train cars dotting the old graveyard, and the lights that managed to outlast the explosions still burned dimly, casting bleak glows across the sea of black and gray before them. The air was cold – a stark difference from the muggy warmth above – and it felt stale and dead in the underground yard. If they had emerged from the machine in there, Ryou wouldn't have known they were in the future. He looked around the yard, getting his vision used to the darkness.

"It hasn't been affected by the blasts," he whispered, as Victor and Yugi stood next to him, Bakura stepping forward to get a feel for the area.

"We're underground now," Victor reminded him grimly, and shivered a bit, "If ever there's a place for Heartless, it'd be here. My father used to tell me how shadows spawn only in darkness."

"So Saix _has_ been here?" Yugi asked. Victor looked down, and frowned. He couldn't be sure of that. The air was so stagnant that he barely felt his own magic down there. But when Bakura returned with something in his hand, he knew Sith had been right again. For that something was a lock of blue hair. Saix's hair.

"Bakura, if you can open the portal, do it!" Ryou said urgently, eyes wide with worry. Saix was strong, but Nobodies were still mortal. Bakura nodded strongly, and with a flick of his wrist, he tore open a patch of space in midair. It hovered, the foul air battling to keep the magic of the abyss away. But the abyss was far from dead, and won quickly, the portal growing until it was large enough to admit them. They all jumped in without a second thought.

Ryou wasn't sure what he should expect on the other side, but when Sith had said 'corridor,' she had been too literal. They had been spat out in a thin corridor, not wide enough even for two people to comfortably walk down together. All sides were black, pure darkness from which they could get lost in, but Ryou felt the invisible barriers keeping them within the corridor. He also felt shadows around them, wanting to get in, but being unable to. At least for right then. But he couldn't feel Saix's energy at all. He only felt a vacuous pit of _nothing_.

"…where the hell are we?" Malik asked, looking all around. He smacked right into a barrier, and cursed angrily. Of _course_ they'd land in some freakishly dark tunnel.

"Corridors of darkness," Basch said grimly, "Even in my time, they exist. Either Sith sent us down the hallways to hell, or to another world."

"How do you figure?" Victor asked him, and Basch took a deep breath before answering. Only Bakura seemed to know the answer, and he looked just as unwilling to explain it. Basch took the liberty. He pointed down the long tunnel; it went so far that there was no light at the end, and Ryou wasn't sure the path was straight.

"These corridors are the only truly safe passage to other worlds," Basch told them, "Only demons spawned from darkness can access them, which is why Nobodies and spirits of the abyss do. Before airships and teleportation systems were invented, anyone traveling to new worlds had to rely on demons to get them through the tunnels." Funny how Sith never said any of that. Funnier still, Sith used the portals herself as opposed to using the ESB building in their time.

"So now Sith's a demon," Ryou said flatly, and Basch turned to him, "Wonderful. A demonic Esper facing a _crazy_ demonic Esper, in a field _full _of demonic half-Esper, shadow spawns!"

"_Hey!_" Victor exclaimed hotly as Bakura said, "Sith admits that her power comes from the abyss, Ryou. Espers are not creatures of the light." That still didn't excuse Sith for hiding this fact from them, especially since _they_ were mostly human. _These_ corridors would kill them if they weren't careful. But that was still better than Artemis killing them for insulting his mother.

"And even if they were, the mere fact that they use magic goes against so many forms of religion, they might as well be demons," Basch added firmly. Ryou just looked at him incredulously. For a man chosen as a guardian, he was decked out in crosses and holy armor. All of which were symbols of the church. He was looking pretty hypocritical right then.

"Then why aren't you killing them, Mr. Holier-Than-Thou?" Bakura asked, sharing Ryou's skepticism. Basch just shook his head. He felt he'd already explained this before. Or maybe he hadn't. During all of the traveling, he couldn't tell what was thought, and what had been said.

"I'm more than a mere guard, friend," the man said, and there was something to him that caught Ryou's attention, "I do not remember if I stated this; amidst the confusion, my thoughts have a tendency to merge with my actions. Does it strike you odd that I was in that chapel?" Ryou knew the signs and the timing too well, and already knew what Basch was getting at.

"You're a guardian," the young man answered, and Basch smiled, "Sith explained that to me once. She said every Esper has at least one in every world." What he didn't add was that perhaps that was why she was so close to death in this one. It was unlikely anyone save for Saix lived through the collapse of so many worlds, and if Sith lost her guardians…

"We need to find Saix as soon as possible, then," Malik reasoned, and the gravity in his voice wiped Basch's smile away, "Espers are sensitive. If Saix dies…"

"It's enough to push Sith over the edge," Yugi whispered quietly, and Victor growled, "And if Rath is somehow alive and finds this out…" Hell, for that matter, Rath might even be why Saix never returned. If they had any hope, however, it lay wherever the tunnel led them.

The tunnel ended abruptly, and when Ryou saw flashes of lightning rocking the remainder of the barriers a split second before they were thrown out, he knew either Artemis or Sith had decided to help them. It was hard to say which, though; the blast was incredible, and Sith's own power rivaled many elder Espers. Even if the radiation sapped it away, surely something was left. Then again, Artemis was Saix's son. The man was almost as strong. Either one could've caused the tunnel to dissolve as soon as Ryou's group left it.

It'd have been nice, however, if they chose to dissolve the tunnel and spit the team out in a world that was a bit _cleaner_ than where Ryou ended up. But life didn't work that way, and neither did Sith or her son. As soon as they landed, Ryou's nose was hit with the most offensive smell he could think of. Something along the lines of horseshit came to his mind, but vomit wasn't far off the mark, either. Malik actually retched. Yugi, of course, upended everything he had eaten that day, and possibly the day before it. Victor merely coughed, eyes watering from the smell. He was just glad it was too dark to see, or he'd be overwhelmed with the shock.

"Good god, where _are_ we!" Bakura demanded, when Basch dragged him down, trying to find something to support him. Ryou opened his eyes enough to take a look. And he wished he hadn't. They had been dumped in some sort of courtyard, but it was dark, dim, dank, and enclosed. What little light that filtered in came from the small torches, casting flickers of orange against the dark walls. Ryou could see the water dripping down the brick, and heard the droplets splash onto the cobbled ground. If he had to guess, they were probably underground, in a sewer. Wonderful.

"A sewer?" Victor asked, brow raised as he looked around, "Why the hell would mother send us _here!_" Ryou had a feeling Sith wasn't actually involved, but the question still stood: why _were_ they currently in a sewer, and what time were they in?

"My guess is, if there are heartless in your world, a sewer's the best place to start looking," Basch reasoned, tapping his chin, "It's dark enough, and if Saix's power is drained in any way, the heartless could overwhelm him. Match that with the condensed radiation down here, and the poor man's in serious danger." That wasn't the best thing to say to Victor, but Ryou believed Basch. He could still feel shadows swarming around them all, waiting to get at them, to devour them. He shivered.

"I hope Saix is here…" Ryou said quietly. Victor shared that hope. The two led the team down the nearest corridor.

Down there, it was hard to tell how long they had been walking, what direction they traveled in, or what they had seen or heard around them. Everywhere, the sound of rushing water disrupted anything else that could have alerted them, and that constant feeling of the shadows began to set everyone on their last nerves. Even Basch kept a twitching hand on his weapon, and he was by far the most level-headed. The corridor twisted and turned, zigzagging and cutting across other tunnels, and soon Ryou even wondered if they were still in his world, in the future.

Finally, Ryou had to stop and get his bearings straight after what felt like hours. He stopped, and Bakura nearly collided with him. But Ryou didn't notice; he closed his eyes and tried to focus on something, _anything_ other than that damned water beneath them! He heard faint rustling, and opened one eye. Something in his peripheral vision stirred, but it was gone when he tried to look at it fully. There were shadows here, all right. Zerrkandr was in his hands instantly, flaring blue.

The blue flames didn't reveal any shadows. Instead, it revealed a sword. A very long, wide sword with revolving spikes on the end, resembling the wings of a phoenix when outstretched. The hilt was made of a crystalline material, the blade itself made of blue steel. The 'wings' were glowing white, pulsing with power. On the pommel was a crescent moon, glaring against the darkness.

"…a sword?" Ryou gasped, and bent down to take a closer look. No normal human could wield such a massive blade. Victor turned, wanting to take a look as well. He recognized the blade in an instant.

"L-_Lunatic!_" Victor exclaimed, eyes wide with wonder, "That's my father's sword!"

"So the bastard _is_ down here!" Bakura hissed, brows creased with frustration as he craned his neck, "But where is he?" Ryou brought the sword up to provide light. The tunnel stretched on, but there was no sign of Saix anywhere. Shadows fled at the sign of the light.

"More importantly, why hasn't he returned to Sith?" Ryou asked with concern and skepticism, "He knows how ill she is, doesn't he?" Victor glared at him and gave a stiff nod. He wanted to yell at Ryou, but he had to hold his anger.

"My father loves my mother more than his own life," the Esper said solemnly, "He'd have returned by now if he could."

"Maybe not," Yugi said, and pointed further up on the wall, "Blood." Victor and Ryou looked up. Surely enough, there were gashes on the walls, and dark, red rivulets rolled down to the cobble. Victor's nose twitched, and his eyes glassed over. That was Saix's blood. He smelled it, and recognized his father's scent.

Looking down the tunnel, with Zerrkandr's help, Victor saw that there had been a vicious fight. More slashes and arcs of blood smeared the walls, but he was glad to see some of it wasn't his father's. Some was black; belonged to the heartless, no doubt. But there was more than enough to show them Saix had been injured, and judging by the damage sustained to the walls, he'd been injured severely. Perhaps even fatally.

He couldn't let that happen. He couldn't let his father die – not after what he promised his mother! Victor grabbed Lunatic and turned down the hall, eyes flashing gold.

"_FATHER!_" Victor screamed, running before Ryou could stop him. In truth, Ryou was impressed the man could even lift the sword up, let alone run down the hall with it. The sword banged against the walls, throwing crashes all around the tunnels and shaking the foundation. Victor might've been looking for Saix, but he was going to attract a lot of attention in the process.

"What a fucking idiot," Bakura mumbled, shaking his head. Ryou just snorted.

"What would you do if you found out both of your parents are going to die?" Ryou asked him absently, and then realized that Bakura went through _exactly_ that. His face blanched, especially when he saw the old thief glaring death at him.

"_Not_ waking up the damn heartless is a good start," Bakura replied crossly, and threw up his arms, "Come along. Might as well follow the idiot so that someone can tell Sith exactly how her son managed to die."

Victor hadn't gone too far. The scent of his father's blood was overpowering, was practically driving the Esper insane with worry and anger. But the trail was so very short, and when they came to another court, a large one, the scent was nearly lost. The putrid stench and foul water dissolved it instantly. Victor growled furiously. Damn it, his father was wounded! No mortal, human or not, could possibly remain in good health down here. And if Saix lost too much blood, he was a goner.

"_FATHER!_" Victor screamed again, and slammed Lunatic onto the cobble, breaking several pieces that splintered and flew off in random directions. Ryou caught up, and caught Victor's arm just as the enraged man was about to slam his sword against the wall.

"Victor, stop it! You're going to attract the heartless!" Ryou said frantically, but Victor did not care in the least. Heartless and Mystics be damned. If he even so much as saw one, Lunatic would end it in one strike. And that strike would take out several others in the general vicinity as well. He had no reason to fear.

"My father might be dead!" Victor growled, turning on Ryou, "I will _not_ leave until I get my answers!" Bakura grabbed his collar, dragging the Esper toward him quickly. He looked deep into the younger man's eyes, both burning gold. Just as Saix's did.

"Do you really want to stay down here and worry that poor woman further?" Bakura asked him seriously, and Victor's fury vanished, "You know if you don't return, she's going to die, right? Your brother won't be able to help her any longer, not if her family falls apart, Victor." Victor looked away. He knew this. But what could he do? Come back with his father's corpse?

"But… father…" Victor whispered.

"Your father is a strong man. He's all right," Bakura told him, lips thin as he spoke, "At the very least, he'll keep going even if his limbs were hacked off. You have to trust him." Victor struggled, wanting to break free of find his father. He tried, but Bakura was stronger.

"Let me go!" Victor cried out, trying to slam Bakura with Lunatic's hilt. Bakura shook him, shook him incredibly hard.

"Why! So you can go down there and get your own ass killed!" the thief yelled, no longer being gentle, "Think of your damn mother!"

"_I AM!_" Victor screamed, and was ready to tear Bakura apart. A strong hand clamped on the thief's shoulder and ripped him away, tossing him across the chamber, the poor spirit skidding to an unstable stop just before falling into the muck.

"Do not damn my wife again," Victor's eyes widened as he heard Saix's voice, and looked up to see his father staring down at him, eyes glowing gently. To Ryou, the man looked over twenty years older than he remembered, and definitely had been roughed up a bit. Blood had been smeared across his black coat, and his scar was jagged and dripping red. There were gashes on his shoulders and across his chest. But he was alive.

"Saix?" Ryou called, as Victor dropped Lunatic and exclaimed, "Father!"

"Victor… my son…" Saix said quietly, and nearly fell when Victor tackled him, throwing his arms around his father's neck. Ryou saw the difficulty Saix was having just trying to comfort his hysterical son, and wondered if the man ever got his heart back like he had wanted. But somehow, the Nobody managed, and was soon patting Victor on the head, as though he were still a small child that needed his father's attention. And perhaps he more or less was. Saix smiled weakly and said, "You've returned."

"I'm so sorry, father… I made a horrible mistake. I just wanted to help mother!" Victor said quickly, and then his eyes watered, "Father, what happened! What happened when Aeon left! And did you know mother is blind!" Saix's expression visibly changed. His eyes grew wide, and somehow he seemed even older now.

"Sith… Sith is blind?" he whispered, his voice sounding hoarse in the cramped tunnels. Victor now realized that Sith couldn't have been blind for very long, and regretted sincerely in telling his father the news. He looked at Ryou pleadingly. Ryou bit his lip, not quite sure what would do more harm: the truth, or a lie.

"Blind," Ryou confirmed gently, "And… and weak. Very weak."

"My wife…" Saix shook his head, wishing he had never left. But looking down at his youngest son, he knew he had made the choice his heart would've wanted. He took a breath, and composed himself as he looked at Ryou squarely and asked, "Did she send you?" Ryou nodded firmly.

"We're stuck in this era, but only Victor is supposed to be here," Ryou explained simply, and it was clear Saix indeed had feelings concerning his son's actions, "When we landed in the last era, our machine was damaged severely. It was able to make the journey, but it went awry during the trip. Sith said that if we found you, she'd try to help us." Saix wasn't surprised by Sith's offer. He relaxed visibly. By the sound of it, that hadn't been long ago at all.

"That silly, little girl…" Saix grumbled, shaking his head. Despite that, he was grinning. It was a look Victor recognized, and the younger man laughed. Saix really did miss Sith, and he was looking forward to returning home. But…

"Father, are you strong enough to go through the corridors of darkness?" Victor asked him urgently, and Saix stared down at his son. Just how did Victor know about those?

"You… you know of them?" Saix asked, and then nodded, "Ah… you've _used_ them." Victor grinned proudly, and Saix just ruffled his hair. The two stood, and Saix said, "I am strong enough, though I am quite tired." Victor just kept smiling as he helped support his father, Basch helping by picking Lunatic up and strapping it to Saix's back.

"Sith… Victor, how is your mother? How ill is she?" Saix asked, as Bakura began to open the corridor of darkness. Space rippled, seemingly having trouble expanding, but the darkness was thick in the underground. It formed just as powerfully as before. As they all began to pass through, Victor's eyes dimmed a bit. That meant the news wasn't good.

"Artemis is taking care of her, but she's growing weaker every day. She wasn't sure she could hold on," Victor told him truthfully, and when he saw his father's eyes glaze, he said, "But she misses you so much! When she sees you, I know her strength will return!" Saix smiled. He had a feeling his would come rushing back, as well.

The corridor was even less stable than before, and the invisible walls seemed to shake and quiver with every step taken. Shadows swarmed furiously around them all, but when Saix let go of his son and drew Lunatic, the shadows fled, terrified of that horrible weapon. Saix let loose one shockwave, wiping scores of the damned creatures. Like all of the other monsters Ryou had fought before, they melted into black ooze before vanishing. Saix urged them onwards, and they all understood that the shadows would only abate for so long. Only Basch seemed willing to fight any off that came too close.

The corridor's exit couldn't have come sooner. As soon as they saw the dim light, they made a beeline to the exit. Saix's agility got him there first, and he burst through the corridor, eyes blazing as the blistering sun hit them. His long hair flared wildly in the dusty wind, and he landed firmly on the concrete. He was soon joined by Victor, Basch, and the others. All of them looked upon the scene before them. Domino City, and still ravaged entirely by the irradiated wastes of the wars long before.

"The city… it has changed little," Saix commented quietly, squinting his eyes as he turned toward the others, "Where is my wife? And my son?"

"We're still in the tower, father," came a voice, and both Saix and Victor turned quickly, "Or, more accurately, mother is." Artemis stood there, eyes just as burning as Saix's. For a moment, however, Artemis looked coldly at his father, as though he blamed the man for Sith's degraded health. Then, his anger fell away, and he clapped his father's back, saying, "You worried the hell out of her, father." Saix snorted, knowing he probably did far more, and would more than likely be reamed out for it, too. But that didn't bother him. Three years without _her_ was far too long.

"I do my best," Saix replied sarcastically. Ryou began to see the qualities that attracted Sith; Saix was as much an ass as she was, and would probably remind her of that when they returned.

"Well, are we going to stand here and banter, or are we going to drag you back to your wife, kicking and screaming?" Malik asked, and Saix looked down at him, brow raised. It was clear he remembered them all, for his expression went smug, his eyes narrowing as he considered the smaller man. Ryou knew that look too well, too.

"If anyone's going to scream, it'll be you once I'm done pissing on you," Saix said with amusement. Artemis laughed hysterically, almost maniacally. Victor, however, stared at his father as though he were… well, a lunatic.

"…you two are the reason I don't have friends!" the youngest Winchester whined, throwing his arms up. Artemis just stared at his little brother, and the glanced at Ryou.

"Really? I thought the lack of human life would've been the reason," the older brother said, and Victor just growled and looked away. Saix just sighed, herding his two sons down the road. Ryou, of course, could only wonder how Sith would handle the reunion. With three rowdy men to contend with, he wasn't sure even the sly Esper had that sort of energy.

Sith took the reunion far better than Ryou thought possible. They had returned to the tower within an hour, and had found the woman sitting quietly by the hearth, trying to keep a dying fire from burning out completely. She didn't turn, even as she heard Ryou approach – somehow, though, she still knew it was him. She was happy he returned safely, was happy to see Yugi and Malik after over a thousand years, and was even cordial when she finally was introduced to Basch. She was relieved that both of her sons returned, hugged them as tightly as she could despite Artemis's complaint that her 'scent was annoying him.' But none of that compared, even slightly, to the expression she had when she finally heard Saix's voice. The man had come in last, and silently let everyone else speak with his wife before announcing his long-awaited arrival.

At first, Sith merely stared, not really seeing Saix, but knowing he was right there. At first, she couldn't believe it was truly him. She couldn't be sure what she believed or not, or if what she heard was a fragment of delusion from being without him for so long, never knowing if he had lived or died. But when he called out her name, and threw out his arms towards her, she went running to him.

"Saix!" she exclaimed, as he threw his arms around her and held her, "Saix, is that you! You're… you're alive!"

"Sith, I am so sorry…" Saix said quietly, shivering when he felt Sith crying, "I never meant to leave you so long. I was ambushed… I couldn't escape." Sith didn't care about that. All she cared about was that her husband returned, and that he was alive. For three long years, she worried about him, praying that he was at least safe wherever he was. Three long years she spent alone – though she was not truly alone, she was without her dear husband and it felt just as bad. Those three years felt far longer than the five-thousand of her long life.

"You're home now, dear. You're finally home," she said gently, tears falling freely and splashing on his chest. She wiped the tears, and looked at Ryou, knowing her husband's return was solely because he convinced the others to help her. She smiled and said, "Ryou… thank you."

"You're my closest friend, Sith. I'd do anything to help you," Ryou reminded her, and knew he too had tears in his eyes as he watched her. He had never seen her so relieved, and it made his heart lighter to know that at least now, she'd be all right. He knew Yugi felt the same, and Malik was at least glad that the quest was over with. At least, _her_ personal quest. They still had a long way to go. And Malik, most of all, was willing to remind her of that.

"Now… uh… let's talk about that help you promised _us_," the blonde said, and Artemis glared coldly at him. But Sith smiled gently; without her glasses, her face looked much softer than it had back in their era. Sadness and sickness made her less harsh, Ryou guessed. It was a bitter, cruel thought.

"Yes, yes, I will help you now," she promised, and looked up at Saix when his brow arched in question, "I may have promised to use my power if they brought you home." Saix's curiosity turned to outright hostility. His eyes narrowed as he looked at his wife, either not believing she'd do something so foolish, or sincerely wishing she hadn't.

"Sith!" he exclaimed, as Artemis asked, "Mother, are you _sure_ you can do this! Your power…"

"I have power enough for what I intend," she said to both of them gently, and took Saix's hands, "But I need more strength. Saix, please, help me." Saix's lips thinned. Damn it all, how could he possibly say no to her! She was still a sly, little wench, that much he admitted. He was loyal as a dog; as long as someone held his leash, he'd do everything they asked – and she damn well knew it, too. If he hadn't married her… oh, why go there? He'd still do whatever the hell she asked him to do, just short of murdering Xemnas himself. He grinned knowingly at his much smaller wife.

"Why must you even ask when you know the answer?" he asked her, and she gave him a grin that told him that answer was just as obvious: because she wanted to hear him say yes. Ryou just stared, not sure what to think. He just hoped Sith would be strong enough to help him.

They'd find out soon enough. After Sith let go of her husband, she turned and asked them all to join her on the third floor, where the chamber holding the clock's inner mechanisms was located. Ryou knew why; that was the source where magic would be strongest, where the fabrics of time would be weakest. They agreed unanimously, with Basch and Artemis departing temporarily to retrieve Malik's machine. Sith led the rest up the winding stairs, bypassing the bedrooms and going straight to the clock chamber.

Ryou could feel an immense power, one unlike anything he'd ever felt before. Whether it came from Sith, from Saix, from the chamber beyond, or from all three, it didn't matter. He had a feeling whatever was going to happen would be tremendous. And he had a feeling that, above all else, it'd work.

-(End chapter)

With Saix back safely, Sith now feels she has the strength to help Ryou return to his own era. As Artemis and Basch leave to recover the broken machine, Ryou's team makes their way through the old clock tower, where the inner chamber is being prepared to warp the fabrics of time. But can Sith muster that power, when so much of her strength was sapped from radiation and illness? Can Saix hope to help her? Will Victor remain in his time to protect his family? Find all of this out next chapter, so click that Review button!


	5. Returning Trip

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, Final Fantasy XII, or Kingdom Hearts. I wish I did, and if Takashi and Square-Enix ever kill each other, I'll be there to claim the deeds.

Two hours passed before Artemis and Basch came back with the machine. When they had, it was in bad shape – worse off than even Malik remembered! But Sith was able to fix it quickly, without the use of her magic, and when it was repaired, she finally opened the door to the inner chamber where the clock's mechanisms sat. Ryou felt, even as the door was cracked a little, the rush of powerful magic sweeping through him. Yugi and Malik felt it as well, and both staggered a bit from the phantasm shock. But no one else, even Basch, seemed to be badly affected. Ryou, when the door was fully opened, was by Sith's side as she led them into the chamber, with both her sons bringing the machine behind them. Yugi, Basch, and Malik brought up the rear.

The mechanisms had all stopped working long ago, and some had even begun to rust over. There was a faint smell of must to the air, not surprising considering how far into the future this was and how little life was left on this world, but still enough to shock Ryou. He staggered again, this time nearly colliding into Victor. The two chuckled quietly, not wanting to hold up the procession. But the procession was not a long one anyway. Sith stopped in the center of the room, where a circle was drawn, a large one, with a rose in the center.

"I have, hopefully, repaired your machine enough to get you back to your era," Sith explained, as she turned to look at Ryou, "But the timeline, even with my magic, will be shaky at best. You've come quite a way, Ryou, and at a worst time. All worlds have been literally ravaged, and I cannot promise I'm enough to undo what you've attempted." Ryou had a feeling they'd screwed up enough for that. He had to give Sith some credit; anyone else of her power would've outright refused to help him.

"Can you tell us what happened?" Malik asked her, "Maybe we can stop it."

"Absolutely not," the older woman said firmly, and her eyes hardened, "I cannot give you anything that would disrupt what will come to be." Ryou also had a feeling she'd say that, too. He sighed. Coming to the future was nothing but trouble. Then again, it wasn't exactly anyone's choice, either.

"Does that mean Victor stays here?" Yugi asked, and Sith looked down at him. Then, she looked at her sons, both of them. Victor seemed to be biting his lip out of nervousness, but Artemis looked annoyed with something that had not yet been said. Ryou had a feeling he still knew what was coming regardless. And when Sith spoke, he knew he was right.

"That is Victor's choice," Sith replied simply, "As well as Artemis. One will not go without the other." Damn it! Was Sith serious!

"Oh good god. Now we're going to have both of your bratty kids following us?" Bakura asked her. Sith didn't answer, and she didn't have to. Saix smacked Bakura so hard, the man went flying and slammed into the glass clock on the far wall. He didn't shatter it, but he did take a good dent out of it. And when he slowly recovered, he saw Artemis was smirking. That wasn't a good thing.

"Little brother, I think we should go and _help_ them," the older Esper said darkly, and it was very clear just how much he took after his father. His eyes grew dark for a moment, almost savage, and his blue hair seemed to spike just a bit too much like Saix's. Saix himself was probably proud of the similarity; he patted his son's shoulder and gave the same damn grin.

"Artemis, I want you to behave," Sith scolded, and Artemis's grin faded instantly, "Just as they cannot tamper with the past, neither can you. Nor you, Victor."

"_Mother!_" both sons cried, and Sith just laughed. Even with them being as old as they were, Sith was still a mother and there was a good chance neither boy would mature past that for a long time. If that wasn't bad enough, whatever pride Saix had seemed to disappear as well, because now he moved toward Sith and put his hand on her shoulder instead. For a father, it was hard to tell whose side he was actually ever on.

"If you don't listen to your mother, there will be hell to pay when you both get back," he said, almost as if he were mocking being a father. Then he looked directly at Victor, "Not to mention someone is _grounded for six hundred years_ for _stealing_ Aeon's watch." Victor's eyes widened, and he stuttered for something to say to try and convince his father of how noble his self-appointed cause was. But this was Saix. Nothing would convince him. Nothing but Sith.

"Fine… we'll see how much grounding you'll do when I come back with a way to _save our world_, father," Victor promised instead, and if Ryou thought he was reckless before, the triumphant tone in his voice made Ryou really think that thought now. He wasn't even sure how Victor planned to save the barren wastes they lived in. But the kid must've had some inkling; he was reckless, but not without a reason. Saix, of course, didn't believe it.

"Oh, _will_ you?" the older man challenged, and grinned, "All right, my overconfident, little whelp. I'll wait here with your mother, and we'll see just how good your 'cure' is." But if anything, that insult just fueled Victor further. Ryou glanced at Sith, and saw she clearly didn't appreciate her husband riling their kids up this way. She shook her head.

"Saix…" she sighed, and he just hugged her.

"My sons need to be kicked sometimes, dear, and you're not good at doing it," Saix reminded her gently, tugging one of her ears, "I, however, am quite good at it. Let the big, bad wolf do his job, and the curious kittens can do theirs." Sith sighed again, but didn't object. Victor and Artemis just looked at each other, and then at their father. If it was a challenge, they'd make sure they had the last laugh.

"Bring it on, dad!" Victor yelled proudly, as Artemis just grinned and nodded. Saix's response was fairly simple. He grabbed both his sons and hugged them to death. Ryou watched for a moment, and then turned to Sith. She was still shaking her head, but she was smiling nonetheless. It was just like any normal family. Except that none of them were human.

"Good luck, Sith. I'm sorry this happened to you," Ryou said, and Sith hugged him. She really was far frailer than he remembered, but she seemed stronger just by having her family back. Tears stung her eyes as she let go and looked at Ryou.

"I am not. I have my husband and two sons, and I have the knowledge that all of you died long before this occurred," she replied, with the strength he expected from her, "Now go. Do what you must to protect your world." Ryou nodded. That, he could try to do. He went to the machine, and entered when everyone was done with their business. The door closed. The last thing Ryou saw was Sith waving goodbye to them…

Sith's magic had done a far better job than Ryou imagined. For someone dying of radiation, she had a lot of life left in her. Ryou prayed Saix would take good care of her, and that he'd see her when he returned to his own era. The trip was far quicker, the time-space continuum having been manipulated within that chamber many times already. Ryou understood quickly why the room oozed magic. Aeon, Sith, and Mello had used that spot many times to work with the timeline. Now it was time to see if what Sith did paid off.

They landed inside of Ryou's living room, exactly where they had been before they had left for the past. Like before, it was a crash landing; this time, the television took the hit for them. Ryou knew that once Yaten came back, he was screwed for far more than six-hundred years, and that was if he was lucky. But that was another matter for later. The door was opening quickly, and he was waiting to get out.

He was surprised to find that Tea, Miho, and Matt were in his living room. All three were staring, their eyes wide as the moon as they saw the machine literally materialize out of nowhere and demolish the television. Matt was quick. His gun was locked, loaded, and aimed right at Ryou. The only reason he didn't pull the trigger was because it was _Ryou_. Sith would murder him if he shot Ryou down.

"Hi, Anzu," he said, and then realized what he had said, and stopped himself. Anzu? Where the hell had that name come from? Clearly, the girl he was addressing was named Tea… but somehow, his mind kept translating it as 'Anzu.' What freaked him out more was that she _responded_.

"Ryou! You're back!" Anzu… or rather, Tea said, "I thought something happened. We came here and saw the house in ruins." Ryou knew he should've locked the door before leaving. That was another scolding Yaten would no doubt administer when he returned.

"No, no, nothing happened," Ryou replied with a forced smile, "Well, Victor took us time-traveling, but that's it. The machine malfunctioning is why the house is torn up." He heard Bakura snort behind him, and was glad when he heard Artemis punch the old spirit in the face. At least something would shut Bakura up for a while. Now all he had to do was convince Anzu of his story.

"Time-traveling?" she asked, and then it hit her, "Are you looking for Sith!"

"Did she come by?" Ryou asked, hoping her tone meant the Esper indeed had. But Anzu shook her head, and looked out the window. Something had indeed shifted a while ago, but it wasn't Sith. In fact, it didn't appear to really be anything at all. But it still happened. And when she explained this to him, Ryou said, "…what!"

"It was like something inside of us was rearranged in some way," Anzu said again, "But nothing actually happened. It's hard to explain." Except that Ryou understood perfectly what she was saying. No wonder her name was different now. Something somewhere must've been shifted to change a person's name. He was just glad it hadn't changed her appearance in any way. At least, not from what he could see.

"Don't worry too much about it," Ryou assured her, and glanced at the weapons they had assembled in his absence. Looked like he wasn't the only one with plans that involved otherworldly travels and the dangers it presented. He asked, "Did something happen while I was gone? …other than finding my house like this?" Anzu and Miho looked at each other and blushed heavily. They now wished they hadn't called Matt; he clearly had overreacted to something, and conveniently didn't feel like telling them what.

"No. We were just… scared," Anzu admitted. Ryou wasn't sure what to say to that – he certainly didn't blame them for being scared of anything – so he said nothing at all. No one did. Yugi and Malik looked from Anzu, to Miho, and then to Ryou for several long seconds, trying to figure out what could have been going on in any of their minds. For the most part, Miho wasn't normally involved in anything magically that happened in their world. But Anzu was a different story; Sith, for all intense and purpose, was Anzu's mentor and the two were close. Anzu must've at least guessed what had happened, by the ashen look on Ryou's face.

"You found her, didn't you?" Anzu asked after what felt like a long time, "Ryou, is she alive?"

"I… I don't know," Ryou told her truthfully, and Anzu stared, "The Sith we saw was over one thousand years in the future, and she was very sick." Anzu's eyes watered a bit, wishing to every god that Sith hadn't left period. She wasn't in particularly good health to begin with; lack of light and food would probably do her a lot of harm right now. But Kaiba hadn't stopped her, and neither had Aeon.

"She… she was sick?" Anzu whispered, as Miho frowned and said, "I thought Espers were immortal!" Ryou knew what he said was a big mistake. Both girls would be worried to death just wondering if their friend was even alive or not. Artemis solved that problem. And he did it by directly disregarding his own mother's warning.

"We're _not_," he growled at them coldly, and crossed his arms, "And for the record, my mother isn't _dead_. She's blind, but she's alive. Why the hell are you crying? If you knew what was happening in our era, you'd want her to be dead just so she didn't have to live with…"

"_Artemis!_" Both Ryou and Victor screamed the name, and Artemis finally realized what he'd just done. He stopped, eyes wide as he looked at the reactions around him. Anzu and Miho were mortified, both on the verge of tears. Yugi, Malik, and Basch stared in complete disbelief; Matt was confused as all hell. But it was Bakura's reaction which was strongest. The old thief lost it. He grabbed Artemis and slammed his head into the table. Wood splintered and blood splashed onto the glass. Artemis screamed; Bakura responded with a kick to the gut.

"_IDIOT! You are a FUCKING IDIOT!_" Bakura yelled, eyes blazing with hatred, "_Did your mother teach you BOTH nothing!_" He kicked Artemis again, "_Morons! Imbeciles! Disgusting, little snots! I should MURDER YOU BOTH!_" He went to strike, but something sharp grabbed his arm. And then proceeded to crack it. Bakura erupted into an agonizing scream, and was thrown into the wall by the same said force. Everyone stared, and then turned to see what had just assaulted Bakura.

Sith was that something. She was thinner, her clothing a bit tattered from wear, and her hair limp from exhaustion. Her skin was still too pale, and there were rings under her eyes. But it was her. And she looked outraged with Bakura. Victor's eyes widened as he watched his mother storm in, her ears lowered and her eyes ablaze. She glanced at him, and seemed to see the similarities. For a split second, she looked surprised. But she wasn't when she saw Artemis. He looked too much like Saix, and Victor looked too much like her. She was… amused. But only for a split second. Her hatred doubled when she returned her attention to Bakura.

"I've seen you do stupider shit than this, so I suggest you shut that tongue before I hack it off!" she screamed, brows creasing to make her appear even more furious. Bakura heeded her by remaining silent, though he whimpered when he tried to get up. Damn it, Sith was far too strong for her own good.

"Sith, when did you return?" Ryou asked her, hoping to divert her attention enough to let Bakura flee. She turned, and smiled gently at the younger boy. At least she seemed happy enough to see him again.

"About half an hour ago. I've met up with Organization XIII, and Saix escorted me here," she replied, and Ryou found himself grinning at that, "I wasn't quite sure what to expect, so I thought it best to check up on you." The last part, she said slowly. Especially since she saw that Matt was sitting in the corner, equipped with weapons that should have been _illegal_.

"We're all fine, Sith," Matt assured her with a grin, and asked, "How's Mel?"

"Mello is Mello. Cocky and overconfident," she replied knowingly, and laughed, "In short, he's absolutely fine. He's patching things up in the year 1423." Ryou looked at her squarely. That didn't sound promising.

"Patching things up?" he repeated. Sith nodded, her eyes going flat.

"Apparently, he doesn't appreciate the influence that European history and aristocracy has during that era, and he's insulted several monarchs and earls," the Esper explained simply, and Matt just laughed, "We left him there with Aeon. I imagine he's thoroughly miserable by now." Ryou could only see the possible consequences that would have. He shook his head. Sith had her own way of torturing everyone, and that was normally by doing _absolutely nothing_ at all.

"But… aren't _you_ German?" Anzu asked her curiously, "He's never insulted you." Sith snorted. That was true, and for only one reason.

"Because he knows if he does, I'll send his arse to hell in a body bag," Sith replied simply, as though murder was a non-event with her – to which it probably wasn't, "I'm sure Kratz will have damn good fun tormenting him for eternity." Ryou was sure the god of death would, too. But that was a story he wanted to hear later, when this mess was straightened out. Unfortunately, Victor hadn't had his say yet, and he took it when Sith stopped talking.

"How's fa… Saix!" he asked quickly, with much more enthusiasm than Ryou wished he'd show. Sith blinked and looked at him knowingly. Ryou had a feeling she knew _exactly_ who he was, and had probably known for some time. It made sense – she hadn't scolded him for running scared three years before.

"Saix is fine. Tired, no doubt, and he works nonstop to ensure my safety, but he is alive and well," she told him, and smiled slyly, "In fact, he's waiting outside." Or rather, he was. Ryou turned, and screamed when he saw the man in question standing in the hallway. His eyes were glowing with amusement, and he was leaning almost casually on Lunatic. Victor's joy was apparent; Artemis seemed mildly amused to see his father, albeit younger.

"Looks like he's tired of waiting," Matt commented with a smirk. Sith's eyes narrowed as she looked at her appointed bodyguard. Saix just grinned a bit. Obviously, he felt it was his god-given right to do whatever the hell he wanted.

"He was _supposed_ to wait _outside!_" she snapped, advancing on the bigger man. Saix seemed amused that she felt she could take him down. Ryou _knew_ she couldn't. Saix would either break her in half, or lock her in some sort of hold. After all, Xemnas could do that fairly easily, and Xemnas wasn't as strong.

"I'm _bored_," Saix told her frankly. It was just too bad Sith didn't care. She smirked.

"You're a Nobody. You don't _get_ bored," she reminded him. But that argument was useless. If anything, it made Saix even more amused with her. Or at least he feigned amusement. It was hard to tell.

"You've said this to lord Xemnas several times, yet it seems I'm still amused," he pointed out, and took a deep breath, "Perhaps it's because it's landed you in several scenarios where I've had to help you, yet you still won't learn?" Ryou couldn't imagine what Xemnas would do if Sith became overly difficult. Last time, he nearly killed her. Saix hadn't exactly saved her life, either. Xaldin had that honor.

"What I've _learned_ is that your group is comprised of a bunch of _liars_," she stated pointedly, "To hell you don't feel anything. You certainly laugh at me enough to make me believe you do." Saix _wanted_ to say it was because he thought she was an idiot, but he didn't. He liked living, even if his existence literally meant nothing. He simply shrugged, but even as he looked away, Ryou could see he was still keeping an eye on the older Esper. Sith turned to Ryou instead and asked, "What about you? I've heard you've done some traveling yourself." Ryou wanted to know just who told her this, and his first accusation went to Bakura.

"Er… we might have gone somewhere," Ryou answered slowly, almost afraid of actually giving her the answer. Sith's look told him she didn't buy his act.

"How far back did you go?" she asked, and grinned, "Mind that if you lie, I can just hack your machine and see for myself." Ryou was sure she'd hack something else of Malik's, too, but he kept quiet. Sith waited patiently, brow raised, but she soon learned he wasn't going to tell her anything. This time, she looked right at Bakura. The old spirit complied, and Ryou knew now he had told her everything even before she entered the house.

"We ended up in the year 1506, in a world called Ivalice," the thief explained, and Sith's attention went to Basch. When Bakura saw her recognition, he asked, "You know of it?" She nodded.

"It was the first world I fled to, some five hundred years back," Sith told him, "For about two thousand years, my brother and I wandered the planes, trying to find some corner Bahamut would not go. Aeon suggested a world like Ivalice." Ryou couldn't exactly see the point, but when he asked, it was actually Artemis who answered. He looked at his mother curiously for a moment, and then back at Ryou. For once, all trace of his surly attitude seemed to vanish. Now he looked bewildered.

"Some worlds are more influenced by magic than others, which would've made it harder to track my mother down," Artemis replied seriously, "Worlds like Ivalice and Spira still hold heavily onto the Esper lore. Finding Sith would've been tough, even for Bahamut." He stopped when he realized everyone was staring at him. He looked back, almost expectantly. Then, he realized what he'd said about Sith. He just called her 'mother.' And he probably shouldn't have.

"Mother?" Matt repeated in disbelief, and Sith just sighed and said, "If anyone would've let something like that slip, it'd have been my son." She sounded mildly amused, and Artemis found himself blushing. As long as Saix didn't catch on that _he_ was the father, then things should've been fine. Possibly.

"So you _do_ end up mating," Saix commented almost insultingly, "Won't lord Xemnas be happy. I'm sure that'll permit me to murder Mello, right?" Shit. This wasn't going to end well unless Ryou did something. Sith was already inadvertently on it. She shook her head.

"First of all, if you so much as harm Mello again, I will shove Lunatic up your arse sideways," Sith threatened, and then chuckled, "Second, does that boy even _look_ like Xemnas in _any_ way?" Saix looked over Artemis, and had to admit that he really didn't. No white hair, and his skin wasn't tan in any way. He did have the golden eyes, but then again, so did Xigbar. In all honesty, the kid looked like… well, like Saix.

"…he looks like me," Saix told her, and found himself flustered when she actually agreed. She looked at him knowingly, and Ryou felt it took a painfully long, slow minute for the truth to finally hit him. But when it did, it knocked Saix six ways to Sunday. His eyes widened and he said, "…I have a son? With… with Sith!"

"What in hell is wrong with _me_?" Sith asked him, crossing her arms as she leaned against the table. Saix just gave her a look that said so much more than he intended. If she felt stupid in front of him before, she felt even worse now. His look told her he thought she was far worse than any other woman he may have bedded with before. But his look also held some level of gentleness that wasn't present when he spoke with anyone else.

Ryou decided he had to do something, or Sith might really haul off and kill Saix.

"Sith… don't you want to hear what happened after we left Ivalice?" Ryou asked, but the glare Artemis gave him told him that wasn't a good idea. He remembered what Sith had said in the future, and realized telling _their_ Sith any of this would have severe consequences. For instance, she might never end up marrying Saix, and she might even be killed prematurely. She glanced at him.

"It may be best that I not know," she said quietly, and looked squarely at him, "You and my son have already said far too much. Next time, both of you, think before you speak." Artemis's ears lowered, and Ryou felt foolish now, in front of the older Esper as he was. But her point was clear. And she said nothing more on the matter.

Instead, she sat on the couch, where Anzu and Miho both joined her, and she promptly beckoned for Bakura to sit across from her. He did so, gazing at her with concern as he tried to guess what it was she had to tell him. Like so much else about her, her face told him nothing. For several long seconds, she said nothing. Then, she quietly told him, "We have a problem."

"Problem?" Bakura repeated incredulously, "With… what, exactly? Temporal paradox?" Sith shook her head. As if Aeon would have allowed that to happen.

"We cannot access a certain pathway in my personal timeline," she told him, and now Bakura was interested. He tilted his head, waiting for her to go on. But she didn't, and he had a feeling he'd have to talk her through it. He did so.

"Any particular reason?" he asked her. Her lips thinned, and her frustration showed clearly. Whatever the reason, it wasn't one she could personally rectify.

"It's been locked off, and the seals are not from me," she replied, and Bakura's curiosity grew further, "Bakura, the trail ends abruptly around the time you and Yami were in my life. We cannot travel further past that point; every time we try, we are stopped." Bakura cursed. Now he understood why Sith returned. She needed Yami in order to unlock the seal – _he_ was the reason she couldn't pass.

"Damn it… it's because of the damn items, isn't it?" Bakura asked her, but Sith honestly couldn't say. The Millennium items were created before she came to their world. They hadn't stopped her before. Why bother now?

"Probably not, but it's something to do with Yami," Sith stated worriedly, "The seal looks similar to the insignia on the items, and only a few of you know what that is or what it means. I severely doubt _you_ would seal memories, Bakura." Bakura admitted fully that his friend's doubt was well-placed. For him, there was no point in blocking off that fragment of history. Then again, he died midway through it.

"A physical seal on a memory. That's almost ironic," he commented. Sith leaned back and crossed one leg over the other. Her stern visage was almost too intense to behold.

"This is no time for irony," she reminded him firmly, "We need that seal gone, or Rath will succeed in erasing me from time." Bakura understood what that meant: they'd have to enlist Yami for something he didn't want Sith embarking on to begin with. That was no easy task.

"So what do we do? Yami's not going to be too happy," Bakura said to her. Sith knew this, and frankly, she didn't particularly care. If Yami wasn't happy, he could deal with her death when it happened. Then he'd feel like shit. She glanced at Yugi, and the boy knew what was coming. It'd be _his_ job to find the old pharaoh and drag him here, possibly kicking and screaming.

"I'll go and find him," he said hopelessly, and Sith only nodded as he left the house. That was one problem she didn't need to deal with. And with said problem now erased, she returned her attention to Bakura. He had a feeling Yami wasn't the only one required to unlock the seal. He was angry to find he was right.

"Half of that seal came from you," Sith informed him, and Bakura stared at her. He wasn't rightly sure how that was possible. He certainly felt no reason to keep anyone out of it, least of all Sith. Did something happen when he finally did die? When he asked, however, Sith shook her head. She was out of Egypt before he was so much as injured. He wanted to know where he was when she left.

"So no matter what, I'm going," Bakura guessed, and Sith nodded. Not that she really needed to; Saix was right behind her and tapping Lunatic's hilt. If Bakura decided to make trouble, the Nobody would ensure that trouble ended soon. Bakura had no need to fight Saix. He sighed and said, "How far back are we talking? Is the seal on that year?"

"No. It seems to stretch for some time," she replied, "I believe ten years, perhaps, after Yami's death." Bakura wondered if she had left, and then returned at a later date. She never said she left their _world_. She merely left Egypt.

"Do you remember anything?" Bakura asked her. Sith bit her lip. Egypt held some horrible memories for her; after all, it was there that she was forced to flee at all. It was there that she had been forced to strike Rath down. It was there that she created the Mystics. But she could not possibly say this to them. Technically, this was her fault entirely.

"I remember Rath was there, but nothing that would…" Sith stopped herself. There were only a few things that'd force Yami to lock a memory and a fragment of history. If he was trying to protect Sith, or anyone else, from what happened, shutting out that part of history was an effective way of doing it. The only way to know for sure, unfortunately, was to ask the old pharaoh himself.

"Nothing that would what?" Malik urged her, sensing her abrupt stop. Sith looked away and shook her head. And as curious as Malik was, he knew he couldn't push her too far. They'd find out soon enough as it was.

"So, would this be the time where you figure out what we do next?" Saix asked, after a few moments. Sith nodded, but didn't look at anyone in particular. She was already thinking three steps ahead. Not only would they need a team to travel through time and fix this lock, they needed someone here to keep this world safe. Unlocking the fragment would probably set something off, and Rath would take any chances she had at knocking Sith down. Precautions had to be made.

"Yami, Bakura, and I must go for the obvious reasons," Sith said quietly, and looked up at Ryou, "Call Ishtar. He might be insane, but he's still a spirit and he's as powerful as the other two. I'll leave him in charge of things here, once I figure out who goes where." Then, Sith stopped to think about that for a moment. When Ryou went to get the phone, she added, "Call Rex Raptor as well as Kaiba. Both of them will know how to handle the machine." Malik wanted to object, but when he did, Saix threatened him. By pointing to Lunatic, and then motioning slicing someone's throat out. Malik said nothing.

Unfortunately, both Rex – Ryuuzaki as he now called himself – and Kaiba were tied up with business and would be there within two hours. That gave Sith plenty of time with nothing to do, and though Ishtar promised to be there quickly, she really had no need to plan anything more until Kaiba at least came to work on the machine. And with such boredom came the need to do something to make the work smoother. She was a decent technician as it was. Hell with it, she fixed an _airship_ by herself, and only Xaldin had the balls to complain that it 'ran like a busted chainsaw.'

Unfortunately, Malik didn't have much to work with when he made his machine, and it showed when Sith walked to the compartment and opened it up. The first step, she figured, was making sure the damn thing was stable enough to survive another trip. And based on what she saw – a compilation of hair-ties, bobby pins, string, paper clips, and wads of bubble gum – she wasn't surprised it crashed every few seconds. If she were a science teacher, she'd have failed Malik for this pathetic piece of _horseshit_. And if she were Vexen, Malik would be dead.

For now, though, she'd have to do what she could. She just didn't know what that would be. Never, in her four-thousand year life, had she ever seen something so shoddily made. She almost couldn't believe her own son had a hand in it. As she began ripping out the pins and clips, she just kept shaking her head. Both Victor and Artemis knew that when Sith was mad, she was _mad_. And there was no doubt that she was just a little angry.

"Are you seriously going to tell me this was the best you had?" Sith finally asked after she ripped out all of the gum and threw everything she'd collected onto the ground. Malik looked at the pile, and could honestly say he was almost impressed. Had he really thrown that much shit into one machine?

"I… _might_ not have looked very hard for the components," he admitted shyly, but Sith's glare told him any humor he had would be lost with her. His only saving grace was that Katt had given him a _shard of time_ to work with. Even that was marred, however, by the fact that such things were _illegal_ for mortals to even use.

"And yet you found this," Sith pointed out gruffly, holding said shard, eyes hardened as she stared at Malik.

"Hey, Katt _gave_ that to me," Malik replied, but Sith's only response was to look at Saix. In turn, he shrugged and sat down in the seat closest to the fireplace. Sith looked to Ryou, next, but the boy couldn't figure out what she wanted him to say or do. Technically, he couldn't do much of anything concerning Malik's apparent felony over Esper law. Technically, even if he had, Malik might not have listened. Technically, Malik was just an idiot, and something like this would've happened somewhere down the line. Technically, the best thing to do right then was to be quiet and wait patiently.

Their wait paid off when Yugi returned a short while later with Yami, and Ishtar came only seconds after that. All three of them looked concerned when they saw how grim Sith had become, but when she explained the problem – as well as Yami's part in it – that concern turned to outright fear. And with good reason. Traveling through time was one thing. But opening up doors and unlocking dangerous memories was entirely another, and one that could literally end thousands of lives and several worlds at once. And the problem was, Sith couldn't possibly convince Yami to do that.

The answer was, she didn't try. She simply told him that if he didn't help her, she'd find a way to destroy the seal and open the memory herself. And despite the begging he did – and he begged so valiantly! – her own resolve didn't budge. Nor did she explain that she had two very big reasons to keep herself alive and kill Rath: Victor and Artemis. Both of which kept close to Saix, knowing that any argument Yami would have against their mother would end in a fiery rain of magic. Magic, and death.

He did relent and promise to help eventually. Yami was reluctant, but he certainly wasn't an idiot. He knew Sith would find a magnificent way to end his wards and open up that memory, and he knew his unwillingness would only bite his ass later. Sith was his friend, and had been for thousands of years now. He had to trust her, even if it meant trusting her to do what she did best: head right into danger without the slightest ounce of safety. And this seemed an effective way to do it, considering that she neither had Aeon nor Mello with her right then.

"Sith, I hope you understand just what in hell you're asking of me," Yami did say, when it was all said and done. Sith wore a particularly grim smile, one that said she knew she'd won, but that it cost her gravely. Mainly, it cost her this argument at all. She nodded.

"This will be painful for all three of us," she stated, and then added with a sigh, "But most things that are best often were." Ryou watched as the Esper looked to her two friends, all three coming to some sort of silent agreement. Whatever happened, whatever involved the three of them at once, it was something all of them would've rather forgotten. Which was probably why Rath had chosen to track that memory down.

The only thing they could do was wait for Kaiba and Ryuuzaki. For all of the agreeing they did, none of it would do a damn if they couldn't repair the machine. And unfortunately, Sith's skill, and her patience, weren't up to dealing with Malik's idea of technology. Then again, Kaiba's probably wouldn't be, either.

-(End chapter)

Ryou's back in his time, and thankfully nothing's been affected too badly… yet. And, Sith returned as well, something he wanted to happen. But she's brought only bad news – as well as Saix – with her, and she intends to blow that news to shreds. To do that, she needs Yami's help, and though he's given it, can the two travel back and unlock his memories? Has Rath already succeeded in doing so? What fate has befallen Mello and Xemnas? And how will they fair when they learn Saix has two sons? Find out next chapter, so click that Review button!


	6. Tests of Time

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, Final Fantasy, or Kingdom Hearts. Takahashi owns Yu-Gi-Oh, and Square-Enix owns both Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts. Both of them want to see Bakura, Sephiroth, and Ansem fight each other.

Kaiba arrived at the house about an hour after he'd spoken with Ryou. He didn't understand what was so urgent, or why Sith felt he'd be the best to go to, but he had a feeling he knew magic was involved. Damn it, magic _always_ was involved when it came to Sith. That was why he hated working with the damned Esper, as well as why he was continuously more intrigued with her. Mainly, with why she still lived in this world when clearly it was a hazard to her and her sister. To him, the easiest thing would be to leave and find a new world. Then again, he never really seemed to like Sith much to begin with.

When he finally did make it to the house, he found the place was still intact, he saw the city wasn't in flaming ruins around him, and he didn't find any corpses, human or not. That was more or less an improvement, considering that all three were what he faced last time he'd been invited there. Maybe this wasn't as bad as Ryou had made it seem. Maybe Sith really just needed something _fixed_. Ryou did say what they had was a machine, and Kaiba knew he could repair those. Maybe this would end with him leaving with fifty bucks. And maybe money came flying out his ass.

He wasn't surprised to find Saix, Victor, and Artemis standing in the front hall as soon as he stepped in. Two of them were Espers – half-Espers, technically, but they were nearly as powerful as Sith, and the third was a Nobody. Well, shit. If this was what he faced in the first three seconds, there was probably worse to come. And when he did manage to find Sith, it did get worse. In particular, it came in the form of a half-rusted, broken, sparking machine that looked like some giant had come and decided to play softball with it. Complete with a tree trunk as the bat. He knew he should've just gone home. But he stayed.

"Is _this_ the machine?" he asked with a raised brow. Sith almost snorted, and nodded. He _hated_ the smirk she was wearing.

"It _was_," she replied sarcastically, making Kaiba wince, "That was before Ryou and his friends decided to destroy it by time-traveling." Kaiba blinked. Did she seriously just say 'time-traveling?' If she had… then he was in deeper shit than he thought.

"…time-traveling?" he repeated dully. It was clear he was going to be a stubborn ass again. Sith just grinned further. She had her own way of dealing with that, and that way was named 'Saix.'

"You've ever seen movies where you build a piece of shit and it actually takes you from one end of time to another?" she asked him, and Kaiba glared at her. He might not have believed her, but she didn't need to sound so damn smug about it. He did show up, which was more than what Ryuuzaki was doing.

"I know what you said, Winchester," Kaiba growled, turning directly to the machine, "Okay, so where do we stand with this piece of crap?" Sith looked over at Malik, who suddenly found he didn't want to talk. The look on her face said that if he didn't, she would. And he didn't want that, either. He sighed.

"Sith took apart what I used as the inner components," Malik said meekly, and indicated the pile of gum, clips, string, and all-around garbage that Sith had ripped out. Kaiba took one look, and then just laughed. He laughed so hard, he nearly cried. And when that was through, he merely laughed a _lot_ more. No wonder Ryou called him up so frantically!

"You have _got_ to be kidding me. Now I understand," Kaiba stated, shaking his head, "Good god of hell, tell me I have something to work with." That's when Sith went pale. Technically, she expected Ryuuzaki to arrive long before Kaiba had. _He_ had the rest of the components. And when she told him this, Kaiba blinked and asked, "What were you thinking when you came back here, Sith?" The answer, he found, was obvious. Sith sat back in her chair, crossed one leg over the other, and clutched both arms of her seat.

"I was _thinking_ that for once, you'd stop being a pompous arse, shut up, and actually help us," she replied honestly, and then drew Zealacht casually, fluidly, "_Now_ I'm thinking that your head would look lovely over Ryou's mantle." Kaiba was thinking he agreed with her first thought.

Ryuuzaki arrived about twenty minutes later. It'd taken two hours, several long trips, and both Jou and Honda to get everything Ryou asked for to his house, and though Ryuuzaki knew it'd cost him both arms and one of his legs, he did it. Not because it meant he was a hero, or because he liked working with Sith. Far from both. It was because Ryou mentioned time-traveling, and as a paranormal detective, Ryuuzaki delighted in that sort of thing. Even if it turned out to be a big, fat hoax.

Getting the equipment in, however, took little time. Jou and Honda happily took two long, curving metal poles in, but what sped the process was that three men – one of whom looked surprisingly like Sith, the other two possibly being father and son themselves – came out and effortlessly took the rest in. Ryuuzaki didn't know who the hell any of them were, but he was grateful. It sure beat him breaking his own back. Grabbing the last thing, a tiny, glass prism for the _shard of time_, he walked into the house.

Sith and Kaiba were both waiting for him. Jou and Honda had set the equipment down, and Saix had taken care of the rest, so all that was left was to figure out how to build whatever it was Sith had wanted. He walked into the dining room, the room Sith suggested they used, and sat down in one of the chairs. For a moment, he watched Sith and Kaiba talking in hushed voices before he broke up the conversation. He put the prism down with a _tink_ on the glass table.

"Okay, so how are we doing this?" Ryuuzaki asked, particularly toward Sith. She looked up and over at him, and noticed the prism. She knew he wasn't a stranger to shards and the power they possessed. She smiled.

"We have a basic chamber we're going to use," she replied, pointing to Malik's machine, which Kaiba was busy trying to re-wire with some computer parts Ryou had spared, "But we need something that won't crash every time we use it. Since portals are stable, we were thinking of creating one. That's why we called you."

"Damn good idea, too," Ryuuzaki agreed, lying his chin on his folded knuckles, "Creating a frame isn't difficult; I brought everything we need. Ryou said you have a _shard of time_, right?" Sith nodded, and showed him the shard in question. It wasn't very big; it was about as big as a peanut. Then again, shards didn't need to be big to have amazing amounts of power. He whistled, looking down at her, "Nice. You have any titanium alloy? We need something to insulate the chamber so the shard doesn't combust it." Sith blinked. When in hell did they need _that?_

"…what?" she asked, though her look said the same thing as her voice. The two stared at each other for a long moment. It dawned on Ryuuzaki that Sith had never needed to use one before. And it dawned on Sith that no modern world could travel through time without one.

"Titanium is strong. I'm not sure how powerful that little fingernail of yours is, and I'm worried overheating it could cause it to combust," he explained patiently, "I know that metal's rare, but I figured that, you being an Esper, you'd have some." Sith shook her head. Ryuuzaki figured wrong. She glanced at the equipment he brought over for a second.

"No. I didn't bring anything from any other world with me," she replied, and then chuckled as she said, "Anything that did come, simply followed me." Matt gave her a grin, and Ryou understood that if Mello were there, he'd be grinning, too. Ryuuzaki didn't find it funny, though. To him, not having one was a big risk he didn't want to take. He looked at Ryou.

"Your dad owns the museum. Does he have any?" the detective duelist asked. Again, a shake of the head brought disappointment.

"Not out in the open," Ryou said, and looked at Sith, "Are those actually needed?" Her mouth slanted, which usually meant she didn't honestly know. For her, they weren't.

"They _shouldn't_ be, but you understand I'm made of magic. _You_ humans might need them to handle the electric charges that could run through you," Sith told him, though part of her sounded like she wasn't so sure, "I could make a call and find out. Poltzghast owes me for the blow to Rath's army. I'm sure he'd pull through." As much as he'd love to be immortal, Ryou didn't want Sith blowing a favor from a god on something that trivial. Besides, Sith had said only she and the two spirits were going.

But when he said this, Sith rose a brow and said, "Are you crazy? Ryou, you understand you've done damage as well, correct?" Ryou's mouth dropped. Damn it to Kratz, how much did Sith know! He turned to Bakura, but even the old thief seemed surprised by that statement. He had told her some things, yes, but he kept a lot of the bad shit out. Including moving Stheno's Whip. Everything else, she must have just _known_.

"How bad is it?" Malik asked, before Ryou could protest. Ryou turned to glare; but Malik ignored him, and was looking at Sith. Ryou blinked, watching the seriousness in both people before him. Sith's lips went thin; she looked grim.

"I won't know for another thousand or so years," Sith answered gravely, "But I do know you changed something severe. Something that puts my sons in danger." God damn it, the whip! Ryou knew it, especially when Sith looked over at him. Her look said 'I hold _you_ responsible for that one.' Ryou's face blanched. He hadn't even touched the whip. But he _was_ the reason Victor had; it was his outburst that forced the Esper's desperate hand.

"…oops," Ryou mumbled, though he wasn't quite sure she should've been holding him responsible. Sith just snorted. And then, she simply laughed. It was a laugh that told him she knew he wasn't sincere in any way.

"Oops! That's all you can say to the four of us?" Sith asked him, and her tone turned serious, "Ryou, I'm not quite sure if you understand, but I'm entitled to a family. Do one more thing to screw it up, and I'll erase _you_." Ryou _really_ didn't think that was fair in any way. How was he supposed to predict Victor's crazy ideas! Well, it could've helped if he had kept his damn mouth shut. That much, he'd give her.

"Sith, don't be too harsh," Kaiba said, and Sith was almost surprised he actually used her name this time, "It _is_ Ryou, after all." He smirked, and Ryou felt like everyone in the room was turning against him. All for one mistake, which he didn't even commit! He shook his head, lowering it.

"You act like I'm trying to destroy everything!" he cried out, but no one seemed to really deny that. Considering his hatred of Mello, and his bitterness toward Saix, he had a lot of reasons to do some damage.

"Well, not _everything_," Miho said through a giggle, "Just everything you don't like!" She was beaming as though her statement helped in the slightest. It hadn't. At least Sith wasn't laughing. Unfortunately, Saix and Kaiba _were_.

"He hasn't succeeded," came a voice, and Sith turned as the window was shattered by a thrown rock, "Mello's alive." She wasn't surprised when Katt came inside. Katt was, for all intense and purpose, Sith's twin sister. The two didn't look alike much; whereas Sith's hair was ebony, and quite long, Katt's was short and fiery red. They had the same eyes, and were almost the same height, but Sith looked far harsher and much more worn. Katt just looked… well, Katt was Katt. In all honesty, Ryou couldn't see how they were related, except that they were both Espers. And damned powerful ones.

"Katt!" Malik exclaimed brightly, as Sith rose a brow and said, "You sound happy." Katt grinned at her sister, and shrugged as she hopped off the sill. Promptly, she ignored the shattered glass as she stepped through.

"The guy's still a pompous arse," Katt replied easily, and turned to Ryou, "So, what did I miss? Ryuuzaki's van's in the drive, and Kaiba's here, too. Are you throwing a party?"

"Absolutely not!" Kaiba yelled furiously from the other room, and Ryou just sighed and said, "We're going to help Sith out and break down a barrier in time." Katt whistled. This was something big; if there was a barrier separating an event, there was a reason for it. And Aeon wasn't normally one who'd let people screw with time.

"Can't find an exit, so you're making one instead," Katt said, and Sith nodded, "Way to go, sis! How'd you get Aeon to let you do it?" Truth was, Sith didn't need to. Aeon personally was blasted several feet back when he tried to unlock it himself. In fact, it was technically his idea. When Sith said this, Katt shook her head, "Your team's desperate, eh?"

"Considering the threat Rath has proposed, it's warranted," Sith stated grimly, and crossed her arms as she leaned against the side of an armchair, "If she keeps tracing my memories back, she'll eventually find my mother and murder her. I won't exist, should that happen." Which meant Oblivion would have _nothing_ to oppose the mad Mystic. Nothing but Sith's brother, and it was obvious she hadn't trusted him to do that.

"How far back does she need to go?" Yugi asked, and Sith's ears lowered. She bit her lip, and glanced at Saix. For once, he wasn't smug or annoyed. He actually looked a little concerned.

"If she reaches past the breach, less than two thousand years," the Nobody said. That would give them less than two months to figure this out. And that was only if Sith's memories weren't completely scrambled. Two months before Oblivion could conceivably collapse. Two months before Sith was gone forever.

"Why your mother?" Bakura asked her, "Why not just kill you once she breaks that memory open? She'll have the opportunity."

"She kills me then, but I'll just come back in a time loop," Sith told him simply, and darkly continued, "But if she kills my mother…"

"You won't come back, because your mother's death goes outside of a time loop," Ryou finished, and Sith stared critically, "We… Sith, we found a cathedral dedicated to you in the past. Was it true your mother was a goddess?" Sith's eyes hardened. That was a sore subject to ask. But she nodded, realizing it might be best to tell them now, instead of giving Rath that honor.

"I didn't know much about my mother, but yes, she was," Sith replied quietly, looking down, "A goddess of what, I'm not sure of. My father did not often speak of it. All I know was that I inherited her power. Most of it." That was probably because she had just been born when he mother was killed the first time. In any case, it was only one more reason for Rath to take Sith down.

For a long time, no one spoke. No one knew how to digest all that had been said, and what was happening right then. It was like a bad dream; Sith's death would literally bring the apocalypse to Oblivion, and they were quickly running out of time to stop it. In truth, it sounded more like a novel than anything anyone gathered should've been living through. But it was happening, and they had to deal with it. Ryou, most of all, was going to have the worst of it. And Sith knew it.

"So, do we try the machine now?" Ryuuzaki said after the long silence, and Sith glanced at him, "I mean, that's the first step, isn't it?" Indeed, it was. But Sith wasn't sure anyone was ready. Ishtar still hadn't shown up, and she didn't want to leave Anzu in charge of defense in this world. But they couldn't wait forever.

"What do you think?" she asked, turning to Kaiba. He nodded gravely. He agreed with her hesitancy, and also knew they'd have to do this eventually.

"If we've got a chance, Sith, we might as well take it," he replied simply, and that was logic she wasn't about to argue with. She looked at Saix, and he flipped on the switch as Malik input commands on the keyboard. Lights flashed, and the house dimmed as the machine drained the city of electricity. But soon, the familiar whirr of machinery could be heard, and sparks began to dance along the metallic rods on the top.

The most impressive part was the portal that slowly formed in the center of the machine as it powered up. It looked identical to the portal of darkness Ryou had gone through in the future, and he was sure it was the same basic thing. Nothing more than a swirling mass of purple and black, Ryou could feel as well as see the thick traces of energy trickling out. And it made his spine tingle. It was a powerful portal, all right. But could it allow humans to pass? Or would only Sith, Saix, their sons, and the spirits be able to pass?

"This will definitely work?" Ryou asked, both to Kaiba and to Sith. The latter could not say for sure, but Kaiba was far more confident.

"I can't think of why it wouldn't," he replied hotly, and then calmly took a breath, "Yes, it's a portal of darkness. But we've stabilized it. With the tools and the modifiers Ryuuzaki gave us, it should hold us just fine." Ryou didn't want to know what could happen if Kaiba ended up being wrong. He looked at that spiraling vortex again; it unnerved him to know he'd be going back in time, a place he didn't belong in any more than in Victor's time. Quickly, he turned to Sith.

"Ready?" he asked her. Sith nodded, and grabbed Zealacht from the wall. She seemed to have recovered a bit of her strength since she first returned – she held Zealacht with no difficulty. Likewise, Saix took Lunatic, and Katt grabbed her own staff. Bakura and Yami joined them at the portal… and so did the others. Ryou glanced at Sith in warning, but the older woman was not disturbed. She grinned and clapped her hands to keep the ensuing chaos from even starting.

"Needless to say that I don't like too many idiots gathering in one place, but this is the time when I let you all make your decisions and grunt about it later," Sith said to them all, her tone both amused and sarcastic, "Just know that once we head in, we're not coming back until this business is done. So if any of you lack the balls to stick to a decision, get out of my sight. Everyone else, do what you need in the next hour." No one seemed deterred by Sith's remarks. She wasn't surprised. She chuckled and said, "All right, people. We've got a job to do."

Everyone who had gathered that day returned within that hour, many of them long before then. Jou and Honda had both left to phone everyone's families and tell them they were 'going on a road trip.' That, Sith decided, would at least lay to rest some of the worry she'd be inflicting on innocent people. Ryuuzaki left briefly to get some better weapons from the police station, knowing fully that only Sith, Matt, and Saix were armed with anything at all. Going into a time zone where a war was brewing _without_ everyone equipped with at least a pistol was just stupid. And one thing Ryuuzaki didn't consider himself was stupid.

Everyone else stayed for the hour, and helped prepare for the trip. Anzu and Miho took care of the medical supplies: bandages, and potions that Sith had been brewing that summer, as well as gauze. Yugi, Malik, and Victor took care of the food. It wasn't something Sith thought was necessary, but if it helped calm them down, she allowed it. Artemis and Matt saw to the weapons they did have, making sure they worked well and did not jam. It cost Ryou a few windows, but they worked. Kaiba, Sith, and Saix kept watch on the portal, making sure nothing popped out to harm them. And Ryou? Well, he watched it all with wonder. It was amazing what crisis would bring such a lopsided team of merry morons together. Now all that was left was to see if they'd live.

When everyone was gathered, Kaiba nodded to indicate that it was safe to proceed. Saix was the first to step through, and it was only seconds later that his arm appeared again, beckoning the others to follow. They did, slowly, and found themselves not in another time zone, but in a metallic chamber, much like the interior to Malik's original machine. It was simply much bigger now. And it fit them all comfortably.

Kaiba was the last to enter, and when he did, he activated the interior terminal and input the coordinates and dates Sith gave to him. The lights dimmed momentarily; when they came back on, the entire chamber felt as if it were moving on a conveyor belt. And when Ryou looked out the window, he saw that they _were_ moving. Stars – no, other worlds! – passed before them, some quickly and some slow. And with them, came memories of those worlds. Ryou wondered whose they were.

"So, what exactly are you hoping to find in this memory of yours?" Ryuuzaki asked, handing Artemis a pistol as the latter stared at it quizzically. Sith looked at him, and her lips thinned. She looked out the window, silently wishing she had no answer to give.

"…I'm looking to stop what it was I did, and release all of your worlds from the doom I've put them in," she finally said, and her voice was such a heavy tone that it made many of them wince in fear. Saix rested a hand on her shoulder, and Ryou smiled weakly. That was a noble endeavor; it was almost an impossible one, too.

"What'll happen when you do that?" Miho asked her, but Sith shook her head.

"I don't know," she said quietly, and felt Saix's grip tighten a bit. Miho and Anzu exchanged glances, and then Miho looked at the somber woman again.

"Will you have to leave forever?" she asked, and Sith's sadness seemed to grow. Ryou saw Saix was beginning to snarl under his breath. He didn't want to kill the foolish girl, but damn it, he wanted her to shut up and _leave Sith alone!_ Sith just looked away.

"I… I don't know about that, either," she admitted, and she clenched her fists. Then she saw Miho hold out her hand, and saw Anzu do the same. She looked up at them both curiously, her eyes strangely gentle in the light. Their eyes were filled with tears, and she took each of their hands.

"You'll always be our friend, right?" Anzu asked, and Sith nodded.

"No matter what happens, we are always connected," the old Esper replied, and that seemed to cheer the girls up, "Even if we're not together." It was an age-old sentiment, and one that Anzu herself firmly believed in. Still, hearing it from someone so old was comforting. Sith smiled; that smile, however, was short-lived.

The light dimmed, and the machine suddenly slammed to a stop, throwing everyone inside around. They slammed into the walls, the control panels, and even into each other, as carelessly as if they'd been rag-dolls. Needless to say, it took several long, staggering moments before even Sith had managed to get up. And when she did, she merely fell over again – this time, it was because she tripped over Ryou.

"What… what in hell happened!" Ryuuzaki asked, struggling to get both himself and Jou up, the two having fallen over each other, with Honda caught underneath. He looked around; the light above them was broken, and the machine seemed inactive for the time being.

"Did we reach the barrier?" Katt asked, looking around. It was dim, but she could just faintly see everyone's outline, as well as some of the details of the people closest to her. She saw Sith shake her head.

"Too soon. It couldn't have been more than thirty years back," the old Esper growled, and turned toward the door. It was bent… but slightly open. She turned to Saix, "Let's go." The Nobody nodded, and followed as she snuck toward the opening.

She couldn't see much of where they'd ended up, but she did see a red wall – wallpaper, perhaps? – directly across from the door. There was a bit of space between the door and the wall, so she guessed they either landed in a hallway, or in a small room of some sort, a closet perhaps. There were no lights in the room, though a bit to the left, she saw a glowing line underneath, slightly wedged into the ground. Narrowing her eyes, she saw it was a doorway. There was light in the next room.

Taking Zealacht, Sith used the sword's blade to wedge open the machine's doors. It took effort, and the noise was loud and squeaky, but she managed it. The opening was not full, but it was enough to get even Saix and Basch through it. She told Saix to wait, and slipped through. A moment later, she beckoned him to follow.

"Where are we?" Kaiba whispered, slipping out after Saix. He was joined by Ryuuzaki, Ryou, and Malik. The others, for the moment, were wisely waiting for additional commands. Ryuuzaki looked around, and then moved toward the doorway to the left. He pried it open carefully, and heard music in the background. Peeping out for a moment, he saw tables in the foreground, and a bar further back. That was where the music was coming from.

"Restaurant of some kind?" he suggested, turning to Sith, "Think there were bars in the past?" Sith's brow rose, and Ryuuzaki had the feeling she thought he was an idiot for that. In her mind, bars existed since the twelve-hundreds, and possibly before then.

"How far back do you _think_ we went?" she asked him, "Like I said, we couldn't have possibly gone back further than thirty years. My guess is, we're in the 1980's." Ryuuzaki nodded, and decided to make Sith's guess a reality. He turned back to the door and opened it a bit more. It swung open with a soft swoosh, and Ryuuzaki waited for the breeze to pass before he strode out.

"So… why'd we end up in a bar if we were in Ryou's house when we left?" Malik asked, as Yugi began getting the others out to follow. Ryuuzaki peeped over the corner to see if anyone was watching before he or Sith answered. After all, this was a conversation that he didn't want repeated in what he considered 'mixed company.'

"Maybe his house used to be a bar?" Jou suggested, but Ryuuzaki would've preferred _anyone else's_ answer. Mainly because Jou was an idiot. Sith just snorted.

"Doubt it," she replied, and crossed her arms as she tilted her head, looking mildly confused as she spoke, "If you want an _intelligent_ guess, mine would be that, most likely, we 'jump' a bit in direct coordinates when we travel. We could be a mile from Ryou's house, or we could be in a different city. My guess is, the coordinates Kaiba installed are much more complex than what Malik originally had."

"For once, I'd have to say Sith's right," Kaiba stated with a grin, and Sith just shook her head. Just because they backed each other up for once didn't mean he had to be an ass about it. Then again, this was Kaiba. It was second nature for him.

Ryou looked from Sith, to where Ryuuzaki was watching for passersby before he said, "Should we investigate?" Sith nodded. That was probably the only way to understanding what caused them to crash in this time at all.

Ryuuzaki was the first to step into the limelight, and he was flanked by Sith and Kaiba. If anyone were to get caught for this, all three agreed it should be one of them. Luckily, no one else was suspicious of them; every patron in the bar – which indeed it was – was turned toward a large stage set up near the eastern portion of the establishment. There, the floor shined as the lights around it were reflected off the metallic surface. It stretched from end to end, and was flanked on all corners by huge speakers that blared out music that _only_ Sith could identify. And by identify, she basically called it 'a pile of garbage that assaulted her ears.'

But the stage wasn't all that held the patrons' attentions. Ryou could barely make out silhouettes against the walls, illuminated only when the disco ball managed to reflect the light directly onto them. Their faces were still obscured in shadow, but he could see their clothing. Or more, costumes, really. Many were dressed in white suits, shimmering medallions and rings glittering in the light. But one was dressed in… purple. There was one man there dressed entirely in purple, even down to the out-of-place fedora on his head.

"…who the _hell_ is _that?_" Kaiba hissed, as Miho said, "What an eyesore!" Sith just smirked and glanced at Ryou. He knew that look. She knew _exactly_ who that person was, and now, so did he. His face went completely and utterly red. And what happened next only confirmed Sith's knowing look.

"And now, adoring fans and fellow dancers! The seventh contestant to grace our presence is… Yaten Bakura!" boomed the announcer, and everyone in the room, save for Ryou and his friends, cheered madly. The lights dimmed until the only light radiated from the floor and the disco ball above. Then, Yaten Bakura, thirty years younger than Ryou remembered, stepped right into the center of the dance floor. Ryou's eyes widened. This was going to be very humiliating.

"Is that _really_ my father!" he whispered, and Sith finally just laughed. Indeed, it truly was. Now, she was glad she hadn't married Ryou, and she knew he was thankful, too. No one would want to be related to _this_.

"What do you think he'll sing?" she teased, and Ryou just moaned miserably. He didn't even want to think about that. But inevitably, the music started. He wished it made his ears bleed out. If it had, he wouldn't have had to endure…

"Don't you want me, baby! Don't you want me, Ohhhhh!" …that. Ryou stared, mouth agape, as he listened to his father sing a song that _should_ have died in the 80s, and _stayed_ dead, "I was working as a waitress in a cocktail bar…"

"Oh holy hearts of Xemnas," Saix said flatly, staring in utter disbelief as well, "_This_ is your father?"

"I didn't ask for him," Ryou mumbled, shaking his head as he turned, "Sith, let's leave and see what else is here…" Unfortunately, Sith _was_ akin to an older sister. If he thought she'd let him run from his own heritage, well, he was dead wrong. And highly disappointed. She grinned.

"Why? I'm amused," she replied. Ryou wanted to scream at her, but as he turned, she was beamed right in the back of the head with a platform shoe. With a screech, Sith went over and crashed onto the floor. The music came to a sudden halt at the interruption. But Yaten still wasn't up to speed. He kept right on singing.

"Don't you want me, baby?" he sang, and then realized the music had indeed died, "Don't… you want… me… oh… oh god!" Every patron was glaring up at him now, and it wasn't because his voice was like listening to glass being shredded by a chainsaw. No, to the men of the dance hall, all they saw was that a 'little girl' like Sith was just _brutally assaulted_ with a platform shoe by this _idiot_ of a man. And, as chivalrous men, they intended to _make him pay_.

"That bloody bastard just nailed this girl with his shoe!" one yelled, as another broke a beer bottle and said, "Get 'im!" Before Ryou could get Sith up, and before Sith could speak, the men around them all banded together, grabbing bottles, cups, brooms, stools, and whatever else they could find in order to kill Yaten with, the latter of which was running and trying valiantly to dive out the window and escape. In a matter of minutes, the bar was deserted, save for the travelers who did not belong in that era. Kaiba just stared for a long moment before anyone else spoke.

"What the _hell_ was that about?" he asked, not knowing whether he wanted Sith, Ryuuzaki, or Yami to answer him. Their guesses were probably as good as his, anyway. Sith rubbed her head to make sure she wasn't bleeding. She, thankfully, wasn't.

"It's hard to say whether it was his singing or the general air of idiocy in this era that caused us to crash," she stated sourly, and looked at Ryuuzaki, "Should we see if the machine's up and running?" Ryuuzaki wasn't sure why she'd think it was, but it was better than staying here, where they could be discovered and deleted from time. He nodded.

"Why not?" he asked. Sith turned, and then noticed that something wasn't right.

Saix was stiff as a board, and for once, his calm expression went to concern, and then to fear. Sweat rolled down his face, and he swore – even as a heartless! – his heart was pounding and threatening to explode in his chest. Inside, his blood froze. And it wasn't because of his normally-cold demeanor. No, this time, it was for something far more terrifying, something that he had desperately wanted to avoid: They had been discovered, and not by anyone else in this time, either.

"X…Xaldin…" he whispered, and Sith's ears twitched. Quickly, she turned. And she saw him there, as well, watching them. As usual, he looked absolutely amused with seeing her. But his attention was primarily focused on Saix. And his two sons, who happened to be Sith's sons as well. And this fact was now known to every Organization member that lived. And it was _their fault_ because Ryou's machine set off Xemnas's wards. He grinned.

"Hello, Saix," the older Nobody said, and Saix could only swallow hard as he tried to fight off the string of curses that began to form in his head. Xaldin looked from him, to Sith, then to Victor and Artemis. He snorted and said, "Nice family." Then, he vanished. So did whatever safety Sith had with Xemnas. Saix nearly fell; he saw the delight and the cruelty in Xaldin's eyes. That Nobody would _definitely_ tell Xemnas everything. Then all hell really might break loose.

"Oh… oh _shit_," he said audibly. Then, Saix slid to the floor and held his throbbing head in his hands, "_SHIT!_"

-(End Chapter)

And so, with Kaiba and Ryuuzaki's help, the team gets Malik's machine stabilized and running once again. Unfortunately, not even Kaiba can prevent a system crash, and they find themselves once again stranded in an era they don't belong in. And now, they realized they've been spied on. Why was Xaldin watching them, and what does it mean for Saix? Will Ryou's team be forced to escape? How can they with the machine frozen? Find out the answers in the next chapter, so click that Review button!


	7. First signs of Danger

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or Kingdom Hearts. Takahashi owns Yu-Gi-Oh, and Square-Enix owns Kingdom Hearts, and both hate that their characters are all heading through the time-space continuum.

"_SHIT!" _Saix screamed, clutching his forehead. Sith and Katt dropped their weapons – both were intent on going after Xaldin when they saw him – and ran to help the frustrated Nobody to his feet. But when they reached him, his eyes went yellow and he shoved them both away, snarling furiously. Especially at Sith. Katt ended up skidding and slamming into the nearest table; Sith flew straight into the wall and slid down, knocked senseless.

Artemis and Victor knew it was their turn now. Artemis's own eyes went yellow, and his wings tensed as he rushed right at his father – who was in the process of charging at Sith. The two collided in a massive explosion that shook the building, and Ryou heard nothing more than growling, snarling, and a roar from Saix. He didn't need to see to know that Artemis was fighting his own father. And likely, he wasn't winning.

"What's going on!" Anzu asked, as Saix threw his son into the wine rack behind the bar. The bottles all shattered, spilling their contents onto the half-Esper as he growled, slamming to the ground. He stood, barely aware of the pain, or of the blood dripping down his cheek. All he knew was that his father went insane, and was going to murder his mother for a reason none of them understood.

"What the hell?" Jou asked, as Artemis jumped over the bar to continue the fight, "Wasn't that bastard on _our_ side!"

"That was before that man showed up," Yugi reminded them both, watching as Saix knocked his son effortlessly aside again. Artemis went down, and this time, he didn't get back up. That was because Saix had used Lunatic, and Artemis couldn't possibly block such a massive weapon.

"F-father, why!" Victor asked, eyes widened in horror when Saix finally turned on him, "What are you doing! _Why are you trying to kill us!_" Saix's response was to roar his fury to his son. Then, he charged and swung Lunatic as hard as he could. Victor sidestepped… but the shockwave knocked him clear on his ass, dazing him. Saix didn't relent. He kicked his son, sending the pup sprawling as he landed by his mother's side, both of them out from the blows they each took.

Saix was not deterred. His target was in front of him, and it was only sheer luck that Victor landed near her. Slowly, the Nobody advanced on the helpless Espers. He'd end the threat before Xemnas found out, before it became a problem. He raised his sword above his head, and was about to bring it crashing down. Down into the skull of that damned woman and their damned… damned… _damned nothing!_

"_STOP!_" Ryou screamed, and Saix found his move halted by… by a human! Saix growled and looked down to see Ryou holding his arm, trying to keep him from killing Sith and Victor. Ryou looked up, eyes watered and hands shaking as he tried to deter the blow, "Saix, stop it! Don't you know who you're attacking! You… you can't! You can't kill Sith!"

"She is a threat," Saix snarled savagely, eyes blazing. But Ryou shook his head, and his grip tightened. Sith was _not_ the threat. Xaldin was. Why couldn't Saix understand that?

"No!" Ryou cried, "She's defenseless, and she hasn't done anything to you! She's going to become your wife!" But if he thought that'd stop Saix, Ryou was wrong. Saix's muscles corded, and he shoved Ryou away. Ryou skidded, but didn't crash into anything like the others had. But it wouldn't have mattered. Saix was focused on _him_ now.

"That is why I must kill her," Saix told him, a smile twisting horribly on his face, "She is a threat."

"To whom?" Ryou asked softly, and stood. His legs felt shaky, but he found strength in knowing that he was at least slowing the berserker down, "You? Or Xemnas?" Saix stopped, and could not actually answer. The truth was, the answer was neither. Sith herself could do nothing to them. But if she did marry, she'd cause him to leave the Organization. And Xemnas would see that as betrayal. He'd kill Sith, and then torture Saix with her death. Softly, Ryou said, "Or are you doing this to save her before Xaldin gives her the death sentence?"

"He promised he would not harm her, but that will be broken if he deems her a threat in any way," Saix said, halfway between sanity and bloodlust, "If he is told I marry and have a family in the future, however far it is… he will end it before it starts." Ryou noticed his tone was shaking a bit as he spoke, and it looked as though it were growing harder to wield Lunatic. Just a few minutes more…

"Saix, what will Xemnas do?" Ryou asked, to keep him from completing Sith's death himself, "Can't you explain? Can't you compromise? Sith said you're a high-ranking member. Can't you…"

"There is no compromise with Lord Xemnas," Saix growled at him, though his eyes returned to their golden hue, no longer that flashing, furious yellow, "Sith… Sith must be eliminated." He raised his sword again to strike, and Ryou ran back to stop him.

"Saix, _stop!_" Ryou cried out, and this time, he stood in front of Sith and Victor, "Do you really want to kill them! Your own son? Your wife!" Saix growled, but he lowered his sword. The truth was _no_, he _did not_ want to harm them at all. And he was fine to let whatever happened unfold. But that had been before another member of his group had seen him. And worse off, that member was one of the cruelest on the team.

Saix was on the verge of slaying _himself_ when he saw something else stirring out of the corner of his eye. He turned, and saw that it was Sith. She hadn't been entirely unconscious, but she did have some injuries. Her forehead was bleeding, and her glasses were broken on one side. Yet, as she slowly stood and tried to steady herself to look at Saix squarely, she showed no sign of feeling any pain. In fact, it looked like she was just about to parent a very temperamental child; she was undoubtedly calmer than perhaps was healthy.

"Saix," she said gently, and his ears lowered just a bit, "Saix, calm down. This is no reason to kill us." Ryou glanced and saw her words had a profound effect on the man in question, who set Lunatic down and walked over to her, shaking his head and stopping just before her.

"Do you not understand what Lord Xemnas will do to you?" he asked her, "What he'll do to them?" He pointed to Artemis and Victor frantically. Sith just put both hands on his left and brought it down.

"And do _you_ understand what you were going to do to _all three_ of us?" Sith countered softly, and Saix froze entirely. He looked at his two sons; both were out completely cold, both sporting similar injuries on their backs. Defeated, and humiliated, Saix looked down at his claymore, and heard Sith say, "You were more of a threat than Xemnas was."

"I…" Saix realized he had nothing to say, and that Sith was right. In that moment, he was the worst threat of all, and he nearly lost himself to his own outrage. He knelt down and clutched his forehead as though he were in incredible pain and said, "What have I done?" He felt a hand on his shoulder and knew it was Sith.

The others, however, were not so sympathetic. Jou's brows creased and he said, "You were going to kill our friends, you asshole." Sith glared furiously, however, and Jou knew his best choice was to just shut up. But still, he said, "What did you want me to say, Sith? He was going to murder you!"

"So have many others and you've not said anything about that," she replied quickly, and then gently added, "If you've ever lost your heart, you would understand Saix's confusion and terror."

"What do you mean?" Anzu asked her, approaching slowly at first. When Saix merely looked and did nothing more, Anzu came over more casually, and stood beside her mentor. Sith looked down at the man's back for a moment, and then at Anzu.

"Nobodies are souls who have no hearts," she explained after a long hesitation, "Theirs have been lost to the darkness, the same power I seek to destroy. When a human – before they become a Nobody – loses their heart, they lose all semblance of themselves. Any feelings, emotions, or opinions they had before are for naught, and they're left with only an empty shell of what they had once been.

"Now imagine if you've spent years believing you have no ability to feel, accepted it, and then discover one day that something will happen and you will regain your heart and love again," Sith continued, and at this point, almost everyone was listening as the older woman spoke, "A Nobody will find they are no longer such a Nobody. Imagine the confusion, the fear, the worry of suddenly having such a thing. Of suddenly _caring_ for things after so long of nothing but emptiness.

"Imagine next the thought of it all being destroyed before it could even be conceived," Sith went on, and her tone hardened a bit, "Imagine that one man held your life and could crush it at the slightest provocation, and had no qualms of doing such. Imagine the terror of a chance of true happiness being decimated by someone with, not a lack of heart, but a black hole of a heart. You would, quite literally, go completely insane." Which was exactly what Saix had done. With that being said, Ryou was beginning to see the man in a different light. What if that was why Saix was so difficult? Because he just wanted his heart?

"He did this because he didn't want Xemnas destroying it," Ryou whispered, and Sith nodded, taking her broken glasses off.

"Saix is a tortured soul. He would rather hurt himself than have anyone else do it for him," she replied gently, and took a deep breath, "So rather than deal with his heart being broken, he would rather kill the only person who _could_ give him his heart back." Ryou looked up at her, and she nodded again, that gleam of just _knowing_ in her eyes.

"You," he said, and Sith's lips went thin. Then she looked back down at Saix, and her eyes watered a little bit. Up until she had met up with Organization XIII, her life had been relatively simple; Mello was annoying, but he knew his boundaries. But now with Saix… Sith shut her eyes.

"I will not say I can predict the future," she began firmly, and Ryou knew she was speaking to _him_ as well as Mello, and no one else, "But I know who will be in it. Ryou, you will not be in it when this is said and done." Ryou already knew and accepted that when the wedding had been crashed royally – and it was mostly his fault, too!

"But Mello?" he asked curiously. Sith opened her eyes, but looked at no one.

"Some of you will be, and some will not. Mello will be because he is a guardian, like Basch is," Sith answered calmly, "Espers are not like humans. We cannot always live in your worlds safely, so to do so, we have appointed _guardians_ that support us for our lives and theirs."

"How many do most Espers have?" Ryou asked her. Sith smiled a bit, and it was a smile that she did not wear often. It disarmed Ryou.

"One," she said, "But I have six: Aeon, Mello, Matt, Bakura, Basch, and…" Ryou knew the last one was Saix. Sith patted the man's shoulder, and Saix stood, turning so quickly that Sith almost fell. But he wasn't cruel. He caught her with one arm and kept her from crashing heavily to the floor. And possibly shattering into millions of bloody pieces. Ryou looked up; Saix's face was covered with shadow.

"I am no one's guardian," he said quietly, and stood Sith up. Then he turned toward the hall they had come from, and went to walk through, back toward the portal. Katt glanced at her sister, and then at Saix. This wasn't right.

"So you're giving up," Katt said furiously, and Saix turned slowly to meet her glare, "What? One screw-up and you're going to abandon my sister? Is _that_ how you were when you were _human!_"

"_Katt!_" Sith hissed, and turned to Saix. She looked at him with such a look of gentleness and sadness that it made him almost stagger, "I understand, Saix. As the queen of Nesce and as Sith Winchester of the Winchester bloodline, I release you as my gua…"

"D-don't…" Saix said, before she spoke the last word, and Sith froze, staring, "Sith, I'm… I'm sorry. I need to think, I need to clear my mind." Judging by Sith's expression, she understood that answer. She smiled weakly and nodded, walking over to wish him farewell. She wasn't sure how long he'd be gone, but he'd been with her for long enough to forge as friendly as bond as possible, for being a Nobody.

"I've had to do that over a thousand times in my life," she replied with a knowing look, "Saix, I promise I'll stop Xemnas if he tries to kill you. You don't deserve this, and neither do our sons."

"Neither do you," Saix snarled furiously, and then relaxed when Sith reached him. They stared for a very long moment, neither knowing what to do or say. Technically, they weren't even really friends, and certainly weren't anything more. But seeing Artemis and Victor, right there…

Saix could not possibly say what made him do what he did next. It was something he had never done, even as a human. It was something inside, his own voice, that told him to _just do it_. Not because he loved Sith – not yet, anyway – but because he might _not_ see her for some time despite forcing his way to being her escort. It was a job he didn't even want, but for some reason it held his interest far more than being an overseer to a cult leader. He threw his arms around her and hugged her tightly. It was such a steel grip that Sith almost choked. She couldn't move, not without twisting her own spine. But she didn't need to. Saix wasn't trying to hurt her.

Sith held him, and though he had to bend down to lay his head on her shoulder, it was a sight that tore at Ryou's heart. He had never seen such a vicious man become so disheartened before. Sith merely stood and kept hold of him, and Ryou could tell he was trying to speak and keep his head buried in her hair and shoulder at the same time. As for Sith, she swore she felt tears spilling onto her shoulder and into her sleeve. Gently, she forced Saix to look at her. He did not look like he'd been crying, but tears were there on her arm.

"Saix, what did you say?" she asked gently, and he blinked as he stared in her eyes. Eyes that judged yet were not cruel like Xemnas's.

"I said that even though you are not my wife and that we have no children yet, take care of Victor and Artemis. And take care of yourself," he replied calmly, and let go, "Sith… I'll see you… someday." Sith watched as Saix turned again and walked toward the wall. As he did, a portal of darkness appeared, and the Nobody went right through it. He left nothing behind; even Lunatic had vanished in his wake.

Sith stood and watched nothing for a very long time. The others behind her watched as well, though none of them were quite sure what the old Esper was looking at; to them, there was nothing more than a dim, red wall. Yet when they called her, Sith didn't respond. She just kept staring. Ryou, the most concerned and the most familiar with Sith, walked over to her and gently laid a hand on her shoulder. She tensed, but only for a second when she realized it was him. Then she let out a soft sigh.

"You're worried about him," Ryou said quietly, and Sith nodded slowly, still waiting for something that wasn't there.

"He's going to take care of this problem himself. He doesn't want us involved," the Esper replied, and looked down, "He doesn't want us getting hurt. He knows Xaldin will hold this over him for a long time if _I_ do anything." Ryou wasn't surprised. He looked at where Sith was staring, and understood now why Xemnas didn't want to forge an overly long alliance with Sith. He was afraid _someone_ in his group would go off and leave when she left. Perhaps he even knew it'd happen. For that matter, he knew Saix would fight hard for his life, too.

"Saix is a good man, isn't he?" Ryou heard himself asking, and he saw Sith turn. She bit her lip, and then looked back at her two children, sprawled on the floor. As far as trying to do the right thing… Saix was all right with that one. For a Nobody, he was _trying_. As for being a father… well, that'd probably take a long time for the little beast to get used to. But Saix was a quick learner. He'd get it soon enough.

"…he is," she replied, and then her fists clenched, "Damn it all, if he ever comes back, I'll remind him that he is." By the look on her face, Sith couldn't actually explain why this upset her so much. But Ryou knew; seeing their children affected both parents. Maybe this was what the future's Sith was warning him about.

"Did finding it all out mess up time?" he asked suddenly, and Sith's brow rose questioningly, "I mean with Saix. Finding out you end up becoming his wife." Sith actually grinned. It was a mischievously, little grin that meant that if it did, she'd make sure it _didn't_. Somehow, that was going to involve him, too.

"Well, we have two choices," Sith told him, "We can either go back in time and prevent you from meeting Victor, or we can just not tell Aeon about this little mess." Ryou's eyes widened as he stared at Sith. Neither one seemed like a good idea for a multitude of reasons – the first reason being that doing either would screw them into their graves regardless!

"Which one seems good to you?" he dared to ask. He wasn't surprised with Sith's answer.

"I like the idea of having kids," she said, and Ryou's mouth fell open as she continued, "And Saix isn't a bad choice to have them with, either." She only barely noticed that everyone else was staring at her. Slowly, so slowly, Ryuuzaki spoke as he stared at his friend.

"Sith, are you _kidding_ us!" the dueling detective asked, brow raised, "That psychopath just tried to _kill_ you, and you want _children_ with him! What the hell is wrong with you!" Sith's look went flat. Since _when_ were these _children_ allowed to decide who she did and did not like? Besides, her next choice was Mello, and everyone was clear that match wasn't made in heaven. She snorted.

"Need I remind you all that I'm over four-thousand years old and can make this choice myself?" she retorted, and that shut Ryuuzaki up, "Now, we can argue about who I marry, but let's not forget that he's currently solving a problem, and we have more to do ourselves." Ryou had a feeling she changed the subject on purpose, but he didn't comment. She had a point, after all.

"So, what do we do first?" Honda asked her, and looked around to see if anyone had come back from the raid against Yaten. No one had, at least not yet. Sith hummed and turned toward the halls they'd entered from.

"Getting back into the timeline would be a good start," she said, and her wing flapped, "Xaldin is probably the reason we crashed. We should see if we can even move, and if not, let's see what needs to be fixed." That beat standing in an empty club. Ryou nodded, and they led the team back toward the dark halls, where the machine waited.

The machine was exactly as they left it, and they found Basch had been keeping watch over it since they'd gone to investigate. And to their relief, Sith had been right. Xaldin had been the cause of the jam; when they returned, the lights were working and there was a whirring sound that had been absent before.

Malik and Kaiba each walked to one of the terminals – Malik went to the internal one – and input commands and statistics that Ryou could not read. The former beckoned the others to join him, and when they did, Kaiba put in another command. The machine began to pulse and shake a bit, and before the doors closed, Kaiba and Basch jumped in. Then, the doors slammed shut and the machine began its work. Promptly, the bar disappeared as Miho and Anzu watched from the window; in five seconds, it literally fell away, and they were left to look at the shattered fragments of time as they began to speed along the timeline again.

"So, where are we heading now?" Jou asked, setting Artemis down against the back wall. Kaiba and Malik looked down at the terminal screen before either answered. Then, Kaiba glanced back at the blonde.

"If we're lucky, we're going right to where Sith said the block in time was," he said grimly, and hesitantly added, "Assuming Xemnas doesn't send anyone else to spy on us."

"If Xaldin reported what he'd seen, he very well might," Katt told them, and Ryou bit his lip, "Organization XIII is unforgiving toward 'defective' members." Ryou and Yugi both looked from Katt, to her sister. Sith's lips were pursed and there was a look of absolute anger scribbled on her face. Ryou almost felt bad. This was obviously tearing the confused woman apart.

"Would they really kill Saix?" Yugi asked, and Sith nodded, looking away, out into the darkness beyond.

"Without a moment's hesitation," the Esper growled, and her fists clenched, "Xemnas is not a compassionate man. In fact, I'd say that if they _don't_ kill him, they'd do far worse. Perhaps even torture him to death, or to suicide." The thought of a man like Saix falling like that made Ryou's skin crawl. It must've done the same to Sith, too.

Slowly, Ryou walked to Sith's side and laid a hand on her shoulder, saying, "This isn't your fault, Sith." Sith shook a bit, but she didn't disagree. She simply wanted to _do_ something about this. Even if Saix wasn't her husband yet… damn it, they had children _right there_ who deserved to be born!

"If Saix dies, I'll hunt down Organization XIII myself when this is through," she said to him, and Ryou looked down at her with concern, "When Rath is finally dead, I'll have no reason to keep in touch with Xemnas. If he kills Saix, he will learn to regret it _very_ quickly." Ryou nodded, not doubting the many ways Sith could find to lash out at the Nobodies. Like them, she did not seem to have her heart sometimes, and she could remind them of that. When she was killing them all, likely.

The mood in the chamber became somber and quiet as the machine chugged along down Kaiba's set path. No one knew what to say or how to help Sith deal with the possibility of losing her sons and future husband. But Sith didn't need that help. Ryou could tell that, in the silence, the sly Esper was planning. What it was, he wouldn't know until later, but he knew she wasn't as helpless as the others thought. He just patted her back. If he could have, he'd kill Rath and make her work easier and shorter. Sith, for what it was worth, deserved some ease for once.

"What'll you do once Rath and Xemnas are dead?" he asked after many minutes. Sith looked up, and saw he was genuinely curious. She looked back toward the window, and sighed. Truth to tell, she wasn't sure. Her own world wasn't habitable; returning there was no option.

"If Saix is alive, then the answer will be obvious," she said just as quietly. Then she said nothing more, and even though Ryou was waiting, it was clear she wouldn't continue.

"What if he isn't?" Miho asked her. Sith shook again. She didn't even want to think about that scenario. But she forced herself to consider it. Saix was strong, but he wasn't immortal.

"Then I'll return… home," she replied, and glanced at Ryou, "To Oblivion. I'll continue wandering until I find a place I like."

"You don't like our world?" Jou asked her. Sith sighed again, and slowly, she shook her head. That disheartened the group in a way that nearly broke the woman's heart.

"I've done too much damage to consider calling it _home_," she replied after a long pause, "Understand this, friends. _I_ am the reason your world is unstable. It was through my actions and my choices that yours cannot support any magic. And it is through my actions that Rath is alive at all. Had I not fought her, so long ago, she would not be here." To children so young, that didn't even matter. They weren't alive to know who Sith had been, and who Rath truly was. All they knew was that Sith had come to their world and had saved them from the mad Mystic numerous times.

"And you don't think we'd let you stay," Ryuuzaki stated, and laughed, "Sith, I know we're assholes, but we're not _mean_."

"I understand you all care about me, but… my life is so long, and there are scores of worlds that still need help. If I stay here, who will help them?" she asked, and everyone stopped. That was a good question. Without Sith, Bahamut would be hard-pressed to find another warrior to do his dirty work. Not to mention that Mello, Aeon, and Katt would leave, too.

Kaiba just laughed and said, "You can't find a true reason, so you're giving us a bunch of self-righteous bullshit. Way to go, Winchester. You just achieved a new level of Ass." Sith looked up, and gave a sardonic grin. Ryou knew if she could have, she'd have slammed the man in the face, and taken his teeth with her. As it was, her words would have to suffice; best not to use her power here, as opposed to using it on Rath or Xemnas.

"We're all a bunch of arses when it comes right down to it, Kaiba," the older woman reminded him tartly, and leaned against Zealacht, "Look, I can't give a good reason as to why I don't like your world, but you all need to know it has nothing to do with you. I love you all, you're the closest friends I've had in thousands of years. But believe me when I say that my road is best traveled away from here."

"And what about Saix and your sons?" Bakura asked, and when Sith rose an incredulous brow, he said, "In the future, you and your happy family lived _in Domino_."

"Wasn't that because there was nowhere else to go?" Yugi asked, and Bakura smacked him over the head. To the old thief, that wasn't even a point worth mentioning. But Sith just gave him a superior grin, and he cursed Yugi a thousand times for his big, fat mouth.

"Concerning Saix, if he so much as wants to stay here, we'll live here," Sith answered simply, "Otherwise, I go where he goes."

"Sounds like another grade-A excuse," Kaiba remarked, and this time, Sith did hit him. He flipped right over, and heard Ryuuzaki gut-laughing at him; obviously, someone wanted Sith to snap and finally send him sprawling. And she did. Slowly standing, Kaiba rubbed his neck and said, "You don't need to be a bitch about it."

"_I'm_ being a bitch?" Sith asked, and actually laughed herself, "Kaiba, all you ever do is make our lives absolutely miserable. If we need your help, we basically have to whore ourselves to your company to get it, and _I'm_ still a bitch? Oh, boy, you make me laugh my arse off." Kaiba hated being talked down to, but he couldn't deny the truth. He did make Sith and Ryou beg for his help. Of course, that was mostly because he didn't want to believe in magic. Ironically, it was often Sith that 'convinced' him to help, usually with a well-aimed fire spell. Right at his ass, or at his tower.

"That's nice to know," he grumbled, crossing his arms and looking away. Ryou had a feeling he had no idea what else to say; he just wanted the last word in. Sith let him have it, and turned again to look out the window.

Without any constellations, she couldn't tell how far they'd come or what era they were currently passing. But Sith noticed that there were more fragments to look at, and that they were bigger. She watched as one drifted by; it depicted two unnamed men riding across a vast and verdant plain on brown steeds. Another showed her two swordsmen dueling in the 1400s. Ryou came to stand next to her, and watched the fragments pass with increasing interest. But he noticed that she was not as excited.

"How far are we?" he asked her, but she shook her head to show she didn't know that.

"We could be really close, or we could be thousands of years away," Sith replied calmly, "The problem is, the fragments are jumbled."

"Why?" Anzu asked, and saw clearly that a small fragment showed the capture of a sea captain, as a pirate prepared to hang him on his own ship. Sith, who'd been looking carefully at what each shard revealed, narrowed her eyes. She couldn't find any correlation to these images; none of them appeared to be around the same timeframe.

"Because Rath has already been here," the older woman stated gravely, and her eyes flashed for a second, "She knows Aeon's taken me here. And she's tearing up the timeline to stop us both." Though no one but Sith understood the dangerous consequences of that, everyone shivered, and some grabbed desperately onto others for comfort. It definitely didn't sound too good to those who weren't versed in time-travel.

"But if she does that…" Ryou began, and Sith nodded in agreement to the unsaid conclusion.

"She will destroy everything that's been created thus far," the Esper finished, and turned to look Ryou full in the eyes, "That, I fear, was her intention from the start. Not to simply erase myself, but to recreate the worlds in her vision." Ryou didn't want to think of what such a vision would entail. He knew enough of the Mystics' cruelty to understand that there would be no such thing as freedom for any race, if Rath succeeded. Not that they were much better off as it was – but at the very least, they had some resistance.

"So how're we going to stop her?" Ryuuzaki asked, and for once, he sounded damn serious, "I mean, you haven't actually _said_ what we'll do if and when we find her. We going to go in with our weapons blazing, or are you going to lock her up forever?" Both sounded as likely to happen as Xemnas showing Saix any mercy. Sith just gave a cynical smirk.

"I'm going to kill her," was the simple response. When Ryou gasped, Sith looked down and said, "It's either myself or Rath. If you don't like my answer, feel free to join her side of the story." She already knew no one would dare to do that. But that didn't stop them from questioning her decision, or her sanity. Murder seemed harsh, even if Rath deserved it.

"Would the other Espers let you do that?" Anzu asked her, and when Sith stared, the young girl added, "What about Fenrir or Bahamut?"

"You seem to have forgotten the deal I've made with Poltzghast," Sith reminded them darkly, and that stopped any questions they did have, "Either I kill Rath, or I surrender and get torn apart. And I certainly don't plan on dying. Not before giving Victor and Artemis a chance." Not to mention that her parents should be avenged, Ryou thought silently. Then he turned to the two younger Espers in question. Neither had woken up yet. And he began to worry if they ever would.

"I hope Saix has that determination," Ryou said to himself, and watched as Sith sat down and held her head in her hands. He hadn't thought she'd be able to hear him, but now he knew she probably had.

The machine began to slow down a while later, and Ryou looked out of the window to see why. By then, several hours had passed and many of the group had gone to sleep. Only Sith, Yami, and Bakura remained awake – the last two simply being because they were spirits. Unfortunately, Ryou saw nothing except the metaphoric sky lightening. No longer looking black, it took a sort of dusky purple nearest the horizon, giving off the illusion of twilight. With the new light, he saw that the machine was moving along a 'track' made of similar light. And indeed, they were slowing down. Soon, it seemed as if the machine itself stopped, though Ryou didn't feel a thing.

Slowly, Ryou opened the door and stepped out. He was surprised that he landed at all; like the portals he'd used to find Saix, he landed on _nothing_, but it felt as sturdy as a cement road. After testing to make sure he wouldn't fall, Ryou looked up at where the machine stopped. He was even more surprised to find that there was something in front of him. It was a giant keyhole. There was no door for such a thing to sit in, and no frame or sign of anything being behind the lock. Yet it was there, and sealed in the center was the insignia of the Millennium items. This had to be the seal Sith spoke of.

Since the seal was still intact, it meant Rath hadn't yet gone this far. Considering her past interference, Ryou counted it as a miracle, and walked closer to inspect the lock. It was solid, but when he tried to touch it, he was shocked with a magical, potent force. Quickly, he yanked his hand away, and heard a sharp voice in his head.

…_Sith Winchester and the Pharaoh must be present to unlock this memory…_

Now Ryou knew why Sith had to get Yami. The lock must have hurt her, too. He turned to go and get them both, and saw that they'd beaten him to it. Both spirits were standing there, with the Esper between them. And all three were looking at that lock, both in awe and in horror.

"So locks in time can exist, after all," Bakura whispered, and turned to Yami, "What in hell did you do to create that?"

"This memory not only holds the chapter that contained Zork, but it also held the events that led to the creation of the Mystics and the destruction of Nesce," Sith said, her voice seeming soft in the vast silence of the realm, "Much evil is swirling in this memory. Too much, if you ask me."

"Are you ready to face this memory?" Ryou asked her, and Sith nodded, taking Zealacht out.

"I've only ever seen one other lock like this, and it was too strong for even Aeon to break," Sith replied, "It may be painful, but I won't run this time. I have to know what I've done, and I must know if it can be fixed." Yami smiled, and both he and Sith held out their hands to the lock. It glowed brightly for a second, and the seal around it broke and fell, fading into nothing before it landed. Then the lock vanished, leaving behind…

Another portal of darkness. But rather than wait for them to enter it, the portal grew, and grew, and finally simply stretched and swallowed them whole, the machine included. For several long seconds, Ryou saw them all falling through a dark tunnel. But the light came quickly, too quickly, and before his heartbeat reached ten, they were out of the tunnel. All four of them landed hard onto a rough dirt floor.

And when Ryou looked up, he found himself in a large, empty room, with the others unconscious around him. And he had the sudden feeling that he wasn't entirely alone.

-(End chapter)

With the possibility of Organization XIII coming after Sith, Saix left to protect both her and their children. He also left Sith in an emotional mess, and now she must figure out a way to stop both Rath and Xemnas at the same time. For now, she and Yami have succeeded in unlocking the memory that holds back the knowledge of what happened before Sith was exiled from her own world. But is Sith ready to see for herself what she'd done to get herself thrown out in the first place? How does it put Ryou's world in such turmoil? Find out next chapter, so click that Review button!


	8. First Steps into the Past

DISCLAIMER: I down own Yu-Gi-Oh, Kingdom Hearts, or Death Note. Takahashi owns Yu-Gi-Oh, Ohba owns Death Note, and Square-Enix owns Kingdom Hearts, and all three are putting five bucks on Saix marrying Sith. Which means I just earned an extra-crispy fifteen dollars!

Ryou stood for several moments as he took in what he could of the room. It was easily a living chamber; it was huge, fitting everyone who'd been in the machine inside of it, as well as the broken components that had once been their traveling device. But it was bare. There was almost no furniture, and the few pieces that remained were broken and covered with sand and dust. But interestingly, there were torches lit, and there was light enough to see. Wherever they were, Ryou saw that there was a window high up in the walls. They were above ground. Unfortunately, he could not possibly reach the window.

Taking a torch off the wall, Ryou held it out to shine its orange light along the walls and illuminate the corners. He couldn't find any doors to exit from, nor were there additional rooms to walk through. Wherever they were, they were trapped.

"Sith?" he whispered, and bent down to wake the sleeping Esper up, "Sith… Sith, wake up!"

"Mello… stop shooting the president…" Sith mumbled almost incoherently, and then realized something was shaking her, "….!" She opened an eye, and for several long seconds, all she saw was a blur of white and blue. She realized it was Ryou, and said, "What the hell?"

"Sith, I think I might need your help on this," Ryou told her, as though she hadn't just woken up, "I can't seem to find a door." Sith sat up slowly and held her head up. Right then, she didn't care about a door. She cared more about her throbbing head.

"What!" she snapped, and groaned when her own voice sounded too loud in her head. Ryou turned, and saw she wasn't exactly up yet. He helped her, and pointed the torch down the walls. Sith did her best to follow, but all she saw was a blur of orange on a much bigger blur of brown.

"I don't know where we are, but we're trapped," he told her, and her mouth dropped, "When you and Yami unlocked the memory, the portal grew and swallowed us whole. I woke up and found us here."

"In a room with no exit," she repeated, and the boy nodded. Sith's lips pursed as she looked around. She wished Saix hadn't smacked her so hard; without her glasses, she really couldn't see much of anything. Considering that Ryou was _asking_ her to _find a door_, her eyesight was pretty damn important right then.

"Anything else I ought to know before I start blowing the shit out of this room?" she asked, and Ryou turned sharply. He had always known Sith was one to opt for overreaction, but to put themselves in that level of danger! Then again, this was Sith, and Sith was _mad_. Best to just lay out the scenario all nice and easy for her to solve later.

"Yeah. Everyone else is unconscious," Ryou told her bluntly, and Sith just grinned. It was a look that told Ryou that, if anything, being unconscious just meant none of them would know what it was that might kill them. Ryou suddenly wished he hadn't said a damn thing.

"Did you learn your lesson?" Aeon asked, as he and Mello walked down the luminous track of the time-space continuum, ignoring the twilight that was suddenly taking over the normally black sky. Mello, who'd been stuck _mopping floors_ as an apology for insulting a monarch, just grumbled and shook his head.

"No," he said sourly, and his nose wrinkled, "I didn't learn a damn thing except that you enjoy wasting time."

"How sad, because I've learned quite a lot," Aeon informed him, looking down at his silver watch as they kept their course, "Maybe next time, you won't take to insulting King Henry for his… ah… current portrayal in your era?" Mello stopped and glared at the young-looking time-keeper, who was grinning even as he looked at his watch.

"Hey, it's not my fault the guy was eating a turkey, okay!" Mello yelled, and then when Aeon didn't respond, he asked, "Why the hell are you always staring at that stupid thing, anyway! What, did Sith do something again?" Aeon looked up, and his smile vanished. Any anger Mello had quickly disappeared. Aeon was normally so calm; him being furious or upset usually meant shit had hit the fan. And he looked pretty upset.

"Yes and no," Aeon replied, "Technically, it was Ryou who caused this, but what's going to happen will affect Sith severely, possibly even killing her." Mello's eyes flashed dangerously. Ryou! He should've guessed it'd have something to do with that annoying whelp. Looking away, Mello couldn't help but wish he'd killed the boy.

"_Why?_" he asked pointedly, and when Aeon wouldn't answer, he turned and grabbed the man's collar, "How _severely_ are we talking, Aeon? Is Sith in danger?"

"No, but her husband is," Aeon replied, and Mello let the time-keeper go, who crashed ungracefully onto the floor. Husband… that white-haired rodent just said Sith's _husband!_ Mello shook his head. Sith wasn't married… was she? No. No, she hadn't been when he last saw her. But that was over a week ago, and this was Sith, and… and… and…

"_Husband?_" Mello urged, and Aeon sighed as he stood up and dusted his tailcoat off. Sometimes, he really did wonder why he traveled with someone as brutish and unrefined as Mello. He closed his watch and slipped it into his pocket.

"Yes, husband," Aeon repeated, adjusting his monocle, "Sith _does_ marry, Mello. And no, it certainly is not you. Nor is it Ryou." That, at least, was a relief to hear. Mello could never have seen Sith with anyone as wimpy or clingy as Ryou. Then again, he didn't think he could see Aeon falling in love, and that happened, too, so…

"Okay, so who's this _husband_ of hers?" the blonde asked, and slyly added, "Is it _you_, Aeon?" Aeon froze and blushed heavily, and then quickly shook his head. As much as he'd have enjoyed the thought of being Sith's husband – hell, he'd entertain it if it was allowed! – he knew eventually it would end. Because Sith would eventually die, and he would not.

"No, it isn't me," the time-keeper replied flatly, "But we both know him. Do you remember Organization XIII?"

"How can I forget? Those assholes nearly murdered us," Mello reminded him, and then thought about what he was just told, "Wait… are you saying Sith marries Xemnas! Oh, good gods of Kira, tell me she gets a divorce!" Again, Aeon wondered why he bothered traveling with Mello, when he could've had any partner he wished for. He certainly didn't have time to deal with the man's antics, and neither did Sith. He sighed, shifting his weight to one side.

"It is not Xemnas, either," Aeon told him, and held up one hand, "Nor is it Xaldin, or Xigbar, or Vexen, or Marluxia, or Demyx, or…"

"Is it Zexion?" Mello asked just as flatly, and at this, Aeon flat out laughed. Zexion was the _least likely_ to ever get married, not to mention he never actually physically _spoke_ to Sith in either of their lives. Then again, that was partially due to the one who _was_ her husband. And try as he had, he couldn't successfully keep her from _all_ of the other Organization members.

"It's Saix, you imbecile," he replied, and Mello's mouth dropped, "Oh, sod off it. Why are you so surprised? It _is_ Sith, after all." From what Mello could remember, Sith personally preferred men who didn't purposely throw themselves into the heat of battle. Of which, Saix was _not_. The man _looked_ calm and composed, but Mello saw first hand – and too many times to count – that Saix was nothing more than a raving, psychotic lunatic. With a giant sword that could easily cut all of them in half.

"But… but _Saix!_" Mello stammered, unable to fully grasp such a concept, "He's… He's not just a Nobody, he's a fucking _demon!_ Aeon, you can't possibly tell me you approve!" It was clear Aeon _didn't_ approve at all, but he loved Sith and preferred friendship over bossing her around. His brow rose.

"Hardly, but this is neither here nor there. Besides, aren't we supposed to _help_ Sith?" Aeon reminded him almost sarcastically, and crossed his arms, "Or are you revoking your promise due to personal issues?" Mello's glare worsened and he was sure he'd have punched Aeon, if it wouldn't piss Matt, Sith, and Katt off. Instead, he turned away angrily, down the way they were going.

"Don't you dare bring that up," the blonde threatened, "So I love Sith. So I want what's best. Is that _really_ so terrible?" Aeon wasn't convinced of that when he tried to kill Ryou, and the time-keeper certainly wasn't convinced now. He snorted derisively, shaking his head. If only Mello were truly so simple.

"Just how far are you willing to destroy time for Sith's sake?" Aeon asked him seriously, and such a tone caught Mello off guard. He expected some level of banter, or even admonishment from Aeon. But the question was genuine. And Mello had no answer. Truth was, he was willing to end the world for her. And he knew Aeon felt the same. Problem was, that wasn't what Sith would want and they both knew it. What she wanted was what Saix would give her if they helped him: an actual life.

"What's the plan, Aeon?" he asked, knowing that the question was not meant as a scolding, but rather an implication. Aeon's mouth twitched into a grin, and he stepped aside. Mello squinted his eyes, trying to see what it was Aeon revealed. But all he saw was a… giant, hollowed-out keyhole that glimmered faintly in the twilight. He could barely see it. Just what the hell was it?

"Rath broke something to try and confuse Ryou, but he went with it and averted her confusion," Aeon began, and grinned, "By doing so, she unveiled the lock Yami put around his and Sith's memories. And they just unlocked them." That was nice, but was there a point to it? Mello didn't see the connection.

"And?" he urged impatiently.

"By unlocking the memories of when Sith banished Rath, they've opened up passages and pathways to more eras and other worlds that, normally, no one could access," Aeon continued slyly, eyes gleaming, "More importantly, because Sith herself is now in her own memory, physics dictates one cannot be in two places at once."

"Aeon, what is the _goddamned POINT!_" Mello practically yelled, but Aeon did not notice the hotheaded tone. His brow rose enigmatically, and he gestured to the hollow.

"Sith is essentially going to relive the events of the past because she no longer exists in time itself," Aeon said, "As will Rath. This time, when they cross, there will be only one survivor. And we're going to ensure that and right everything that's brought Oblivion to its very knees." Now it dawned on Mello. Rath wasn't just trying to erase Sith. She was trying to ensure that there was _no_ Winchester line, now or ever, and she was bringing everyone within the family out of the contexts of time. She'd succeeded with Sith, Artemis, Victor, and Katt. All that was left was Sith's brother.

"Plan?" Mello asked, and Aeon's grin widened. He had never looked so damn giddy or full of delight as he did now. He flicked his wrist, and a small portal appeared before them both.

"We grab Saix and bring him to the Ravaged Cryspiera – what once was Aeroglyph proper," Aeon said darkly, "Rath plans to cross Sith in Egypt, but she'll take the battle right back home. Sith will follow her, and the last battle will be in Aeroglyph."

"Why not in Egypt, like it was the _first_ time?" Mello questioned curiously. Aeon's eyes shined, and they had a look that, quite frankly, frightened Mello more than Saix did.

"Because Rath is an arrogant bitch who wants Sith to see her own kingdom fall," the time-keeper said, letting all his ire seep into his voice, "The first time wasn't enough because Sith caused it to happen. Now, with both of them removed from time, Rath wants Sith to see fully how much her hatred is known. Rath wants Sith to suffer." Now Mello understood the true intention behind sending lackeys to fight Sith off first. Katsaiga would never have allowed things to go this far, and had to be destroyed. Amber was entirely useless as a servant, and only proved to unlock Sith entirely from her induced amnesia. And Falnika, saddest of all, was trapped eternally to keeping the balance of light and dark. All three were simply pawns to bring Rath closer to Sith's memory and cure her of her affliction.

"Then it'll be ironic when wrath is the very thing that will kill that arrogant bitch," Mello commented. Both grinning like mad lunatics, they stepped into the portal to retrieve the only member of the Winchester line who wasn't actually a Winchester.

"This isn't working!" Ryou cried, though he knew that, as with all of his objections, this one was promptly ignored as another blast ricocheted off the walls, resulting in a boom that sent both himself and Sith flying, one landing on Yugi, the other landing on two others she didn't care about. Both stood up, shaking their heads at the result. This happened ten times before; why wasn't Sith even trying to _listen_ to him? Tiredly, he said, "Are you going to keep trying, or will you listen to me?"

"You _asked_ for my help, Ryou," Sith reminded him, looking at the damage she did manage to inflict, "This is the only way I see getting out. There's no door." Which made her wonder how one would get in at all. There were the windows, but they were too high, even for her, and with her one wing. She ruled them out, and wondered if this place was built merely to take up space.

"But didn't it occur to you that if you break one wall, the others will crumble, too?" he pointed out, and for a minute, Sith seemed to genuinely give that question some level of actual concern. Then, she shrugged.

"No," she replied honestly, "I could just warp away."

"But _I can't_," Ryou reminded her pointedly, brows creased as he gestured toward the others, scattered around as they were, "And neither can my friends." To Sith, that was probably just a minor casualty, considering she didn't like half of his friends. Surely, she'd miss Anzu and Miho, but she could do without Jou or Honda, or Kaiba, too. She turned from the wall, to Ryou. Without her glasses, her expression was easier to read. She was really annoyed.

"I can't fix the damn world, Ryou," she said, and then reconsidered that, "Wait… actually, I suppose I can."

"You can start by finding a door," Ryou grumbled, and wished he hadn't. The glare Sith gave him reminded him now that he didn't have the grace of being her fiancé anymore. If she wanted to kill him, she very well could. Not that she couldn't beforehand, but now she knew she'd be pleasing Saix in the process, too.

Ryou wondered if maybe that was partly what motivated Sith to just blow the shit out of everything. He wondered if Saix's disappearance rattled her more than when he had attacked her. As Sith stopped her magical onslaught, Ryou thought about what he could do to help her out. Not with the room; that problem would be solved as soon as Sith stopped and got her head straight. But maybe he could do something about what happened. Sith was currently investigating the nearest part of the wall, possibly the only part she could see that _wasn't_ a huge blur of color.

"So… how're you feeling?" Ryou asked her, and when she glanced back, he added, "With… ah… you know, Saix?"

"You mean with my possible future with him, or with the fact that he's gone off and probably gotten himself killed?" she countered, though she wasn't angry. That last suggestion, he heard clearly, she asked with a definite shake in her voice.

"He's not dead, Sith," he replied, and suddenly felt as if he'd had this conversation with her before. Not with _her_, but with what had been her in the future, over roughly the same thing. And her reaction, thankfully, was _not_ the same. She turned fully, and frowned.

"You want to know how I feel," she repeated, almost mockingly now, "I'm confused. I'm hurt. I don't know what's going on, and I don't know what I feel." Ryou wasn't entirely convinced, but he had sympathy for Sith. Maybe it was the years of living with her, or maybe it was just that she had a damn difficult life in his world.

"I know you care, though," he replied softly, "Is that why you're confused?" Sith looked away, and he had a feeling what she would say, she wouldn't like.

"Yes… and no," she said, and glanced at him, "Ryou, I don't know what to feel anymore. I thought I loved Mello, but it's… different now. What I felt then and what I feel now… It isn't the same. I don't know, perhaps I'm too old for this." Ryou shook his head. There was no such thing, not to him. But to Sith, who was over four-thousand, and still going, she was getting up there. Even if she only looked twenty-three.

"Want to know what I think?" he asked, as Sith grunted and kept pushing the wall for any sign of an exit. When she didn't give a true answer, he continued, "I think what you felt for Mello and I was because of what happened in a past you couldn't remember. Now that you do, it's the past and it's not what you want." Sith stopped again and looked up. That made… sense. She looked at Ryou, and for once, she didn't see him as a child. He seemed older, more grown-up than he should've been. She was beginning to think she was wrong about him.

"Sounds about right," she commented, and turned back to the wall, "But how am I going to tell Mello? You know what he'd do." Indeed, Ryou did. He himself almost did the same thing when he saw Saix. But that seemed… oh, so damn long ago. He reminded himself that without Saix, his best friend wouldn't exist.

"So don't tell him?" Ryou suggested, and Sith laughed. That was easier said than done. Besides, if Mello messed around in the timeline, there was a chance he'd find out anyway. No sense in keeping secrets, especially since he'd insist on being there for the wedding.

"Like I tried not to tell him about _you?_" she asked, and Ryou nearly choked. He had a feeling, then, that Mello probably already knew about Saix. It was nice knowing them both while he did. He wasn't sure which one would be killed first.

Eventually, Sith's searching paid off, as did the massive amounts of fireballs she fired at the crumbling walls. Near one of the corners, she found a particularly weak section of the wall, and when she pushed it in just slightly, it crumbled completely and left a small hole, a few wisps of paste and dust still clinging to the edges. One mighty slam of her tail finished the section off, and soon, they were left with a decent-sized hole that led outdoors, where the night sky twinkled with stars and the air was warm and thick. Sith looked at Ryou, and they both stepped out curiously.

Wherever they'd landed, it was clear the land was as decimated as Domino had been in the future. The buildings were in complete ruins; some still stood with half their structure in tact, others were broken apart and scattered around what looked to be a once-beautiful town, though quite small. Sith looked around, knowing she should remember this place, but unable to think of a name, or a single resident. But for some reason, she thought clearly of Bakura, and considered waking him up.

"Where are we?" Ryou asked, as Sith bent down and picked up a crumbling brick, turning it over. It wasn't so much a 'brick,' but more a small square of limestone. It was old, and had been worn down for several years now.

"Kul Elna," she murmured, the name coming from a depth in her mind that she did not think existed, "A small village outside of the Egyptian metropolis northeast of here." She looked back at Ryou, and he just nodded, not knowing whether he should be surprised she knew the place. After all, she'd been here before… hadn't she?

"Do you remember doing anything here?" he asked her, but she shook her head.

"From what I remember, this was a village comprised of thieves and refugees from the wars in neighboring countries," she explained with mild bewilderment, "I may have come as an enforcer, but I don't remember doing anything particularly important here."

"Maybe you know someone here," he suggested, but again, Sith didn't know. In this world, even if she was important, she had two strikes on her: she was an Esper, and she was an outlander. If she did have friends, they were not many. Again, Bakura swam into her mind. Maybe he had been here.

"The only one I can picture here is Bakura," she finally said, after a moment of thought, "He was a thief. He mentioned a village. But there are many ruins around here; is this the right one?"

"It'd be pretty coincidental if it was," Ryou commented dryly, knowing that if they were here, it was for a reason. Sith agreed. The problem was, she had no idea where Bakura could be, at least in this time. He might look different, completely so. And he might even be dead already, depending on _when_ they were.

"But why bring me here?" she asked, and Ryou shrugged. That was as good a question as any. They both looked, thinking of a decent place to start. But with so much disarray, any place was a good place. They could look into the sky and probably get as much luck as if they'd actually been searching.

Pointing to a half-standing structure where the roof fell in, Ryou said, "Why not there? It looks inhabitable." Sith didn't see how, unless Bakura was an armadillo or some other small creature. But at least he had an idea. She nodded, and they walked over, wary of the feeling as if they were being watched. But nothing was there.

"Creepy," Ryou whispered, when they reached the base of the building. There were stone steps, half crumbled and covered with sand – but that indicated that this was once an important building to the village at large. Sith tested the first step; it held her and did not chip. Then, she ran up and pushed against the door. It did not budge, but not because it wasn't locked. It was simply heavy.

"Damn it, I wish I had a battering ram," she said as she strained to push her weight against the door. Ryou joined her, but even with his added assistance, the door did not give. They both slid, and finally stopped when neither could give any more strength. Ryou sighed, and sat down.

"I wish Saix were here so he could break the door down," he added, and Sith laughed. That was true, but she didn't want to say that, under the full moon, Saix would probably break _them,_ too. And there was indeed a nice moon out that night. It made Sith miss him, for some reason, and very deeply.

"…" Sith backed up, and threw another fireball at the door. It erupted into a wall of flame, and then simmered and died seconds later. It left a dark opening, where the smell of mold and old dust assaulted them both. Ryou choked for a long moment, and Sith batted the dust aside. Then she glanced and saw Ryou glaring at her. She rose a brow and asked, "What?"

"Why do you always set the doors _on fire?_" he asked, as they walked inside, "Why not just push them open with a gravity spell?"

"Because I miss Saix and I just want something to be set aflame," she grumbled, and though she sounded sarcastic, Ryou had a feeling she _wasn't_.

The inside of the building was far worse than the pit they'd landed in, and Sith found herself wishing she hadn't brought Ryou along. It was too dark to see – she fixed that with a luminous orb of magic – and when she finally adjusted, she saw thick motes of dust swimming all around. There was furniture here, but all of it, she could see, was covered in white mold, with said motes settling comfortably on them. The smell was unbearable, even for her, and Ryou was surprised when she retched and brought up some food. It only added, with the bile created from her.

"Good gods of Mordrus," she muttered, "What the hell happened to this place?"

"Bakura would know," Ryou reminded her, and she stared at him, "I could go and get him." To her, there was no point and it'd only waste more time. She shook her head, almost leaning against a rotting table. Then she quickly caught herself and resisted the urge to vomit again. She nearly put her hand on a pile of moist mold.

"No point. I'm sure we'll know if there's anything here soon enough," she replied gruffly, and handed the orb of light to Ryou, "Go up and see if you can find anything that might explain what happened or why I'm here. Some note or scrap."

"And what about you?" he asked her, as he watched her head for a trapdoor that had been ripped apart, descending into yet more darkness far below. She took a step down, then looked over and grinned at him, drawing Zealacht. He almost did not believe her.

"I'll go down with a blazing sword and flush out anything that might try to kill us," she replied, and laughed, "Let's go!" Then, she was gone. Ryou just shook his head, and ran up the stairs, praying they didn't break on him and throw him into the ground. Or a pile of growth that smelled amazingly like rotting flesh.

The second floor was about as far as Ryou could go. There were additional stairs leading higher up, but he saw they were blocked off by the collapsed roof. And the second floor, if it could even be called that, consisted of one room where the walls had been torn down, overlooking the first floor like a loft. The rest of the rooms had been knocked down completely, with only scraps of their flooring left. Ryou didn't feel like testing them only to find they were, as he guessed, unstable.

There was a single table in the 'room,' and Ryou walked over. It was sturdy and made of rough wood, and surprisingly, it had no mold and was not even rotting in the slightest. It was fairly new, he guessed, though he couldn't fit how, what with how the rest of the city was. Someone had been here, though. There was a scrap of paper on the table, but when Ryou went to read it, it merely gave a date. One in a language he did not understand.

"Juni Achtzehnter, Sommer. Sith Winchester verschwunden," Ryou repeated, the words sounding wrong on his ears. He had a feeling Sith knew this language, though, and had heard it spoken several times in his own world. He pocketed the scrap and looked for anything else. There was nothing more.

He ran down the stairs again, and using the orb, he went into the basement after Sith. She was not far ahead, and seemed to be waiting atop another staircase leading even further down. Down here, even the orb had trouble giving off light, and soon flickered when Sith turned, illuminating her face with an eerie, white glow that made her seem ghostlike. The rest of the room, though large, was shrouded in darkness. She put a finger to her lips, and brought Ryou over to a corner furthest from the stair. At first, he didn't see why. Then he thought he heard something below.

"What did you find?" she whispered, before he could ask. He handed her the paper, and she brought the orb close to read it. She read it over and over, and shook her head. Ryou had the distinct impression something was not right here.

"What's wrong?" he asked her, and she put the scrap down, "What did it say?"

"June Eighteenth, Summer. Sith Winchester is gone," the Esper repeated in English, "Are we too late? Has Rath succeeded?"

"Who here would know German, though?" Ryou asked her, "Wasn't this before Germany was even founded?" Way before, Sith guessed, but she had a feeling she knew who wrote the note. Not herself, of course, but someone else who knew her. Either another Esper, or Bakura himself, if he was here and if he was taught German by an Esper.

"German is a basis for our language," she explained, "Or rather, our language was the basis for _it_. But either way, only another Esper or someone close to an Esper would have been able to write this."

"So someone knows you're missing," Ryou guessed, "Sith, did you go somewhere in the past?"

"No. That's what makes this so confusing," she replied grimly, "I stayed in Egypt until Rath was defeated near the Nile. So why has this occurred? What has changed?" Ryou wanted to know that as well. Was history unraveling itself? Would they have a time to go back to, if it was?

"Do you know what the date is here?" he asked her, but again, she shook her head. Then they heard that sound below again, and this time, they both knew it was a voice. A _human_ voice.

"…just up and left us, when we need her help," it grumbled, gravelly and unrecognizable to them for right then, "Like vanishing out of thin air…"

"He's talking about you!" Ryou hissed, and Sith waved for him to be silent. She crept closer, and looked down the stairs. There was a dull light burning somewhere down there, illuminating the last few steps and the corner of a table. As well as several bottles of alcohol, all empty. The smell of beer was strong, and so was the smell of dust. Sith's nose twitched in irritation. Who in hell was down there?

"This doesn't make any sense. I should be here, in this time," she whispered to Ryou, and he nodded, "I _know_ I was here. Where in hell did I possibly go?"

"What if this was after you left Egypt?" he asked her, but Sith shook her head.

"Both Bakura and Yami were dead when I left," she replied, "But this memory had to be while at least one of them was _alive_, in order to be sealed up by all three of us." Ryou wasn't sure which one lived, but he knew one of them had to, and that one was down there right now, bitching about this new problem. He looked up at Sith; she was concerned, he could see.

"What's the plan?" Ryou asked her. Sith's lips thinned. There _was_ no plan. Her plan was to witness what had happened and intervene when she knew it was right. But if she wasn't even here to begin with…

"Here's my plan," she replied, and sword drawn, she ran right down there. Ryou gasped and wanted to scream, but he remembered that thieves could be very dangerous, and that if Bakura was down there, he was the most dangerous of them all! But so was Sith, and Sith had a magical blade. All Bakura would have were knives and broken bottles. Still, damn it, what was Sith thinking!

"Sith! Sith!" Ryou called, desperate for her to just stop and _think_ this through a bit more, "Damn it, _Sith! Get up here!_" But the old Esper didn't listen, and he wasn't surprised. She never did, not when her mind was set.

And whether her mind was set on death or destruction, Ryou didn't know. And he very well couldn't say he cared, either.

-(End Chapter)

Successfully inside of the locked era, Sith and Ryou wake up to discover they are trapped within the village of Kul Elna, where Bakura was last sighted. Upon investigations, they come across the scrap that foretells an event that did not happen: Sith Winchester is _gone_. Sith, who knows well she did not leave until Rath's battle was concluded, seeks to know what's happened and if time has been fractured. But who can answer that question? Was Aeon responsible when he and Mello left to rescue Saix? Or has Rath gotten the better of them? Find out next chapter, so click that Review button!


	9. Saix's Punishment

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh. Takahashi does. I'd have more up here, but there aren't crossovers in this chapter… yet.

The halls of the great castle were dark at this time of night. But not due to the residents being asleep. No, not at all. As Saix ran through the castle, his sword clanging noisily down the walls as he ran, he knew damn well Xaldin had beaten him and had alerted everyone to the defect that the Luna Diviner was going to go through. And he knew he was being lured into a trap. Whose it was, well, why in hell did that matter? All of them were threats now. Either to himself or to Sith. He guessed for right now, it was all toward himself.

As Saix rounded the corner and jumped out of the way of three incoming Dusks, he wondered why he was in such a frantic rush to stop Xaldin. There was no point now. Xemnas knew, and they'd come after him eventually. Why make this easier? Saix stopped, and realized his heart was pounding furiously. Funny, he never thought he had one. Maybe 'heart' was just a metaphor. Right then, it felt as if his was about to explode. Was it because he was scared? He didn't think he could feel, but that went out the window when he tried to kill his own family. He _was_ scared. He was _more_ than scared. He was absolutely terrified. But for whom – either himself or for Sith – he wasn't sure anymore.

"_Xaldin!_" he screamed, knowing the man was close by, just out of arm's reach and taunting him about it, "_Where are you!_" He knew he shouldn't sound so furious, but goddamn it! He had a chance for happiness and they were about to rip it up. And for what? Wasn't gaining a heart what they were trying to do in the first place?

"_XALDIN!_" he yelled, and gripped Lunatic ferociously. All he had to do was move into direct moonlight, and then he'd tear this castle apart. But before he could, he felt something on his back… no! He felt several things at once, and in one second, they all pierced him, sending shafts that went right through his back and chest, spraying blood everywhere as he stared down, wide-eyed and wild with terror. Behind, he heard a triumphant laugh, soft, but nonetheless with an air of superiority.

"Hello, Saix," came Xaldin's voice, and Saix cursed, "May I help you?"

"You…" Saix breathed, feeling his energy dropping like flies, "You… son… of a… bitch…" The best thing to help him would be to get his damn spears off Saix's back. But that would just cause Saix to bleed to death. The Nobody staggered, trying to remain on his feet. No, he could not go down like this!

"There's no use running. Xemnas already knows about Sith," the older man said, and Saix snarled at him, "Ooh, are you getting defensive already? Why, I did not _possibly_ think _you_ could fall so low, demon of the moon."

"_Shut UP!_" Saix growled, but he felt Xaldin slam him on the back of his head, and he found himself crashing right on his face. At least it took the pain out of his back momentarily.

"What is it about her, Luna Diviner?" Xaldin asked him softly, and bent down to look at him, "Is it because of your 'children?' Is it because she 'loves' you? What is it that makes you so angry to see me?" Saix lifted his head to come face to face with his rival. His eyes were growing red with hatred, and he wanted to rip Xaldin apart and drink his blood. Yes… if only he could get outside!

"Touch her _or_ my sons and I swear I will hunt you down and murder you," Saix growled, "Leave them alone. They have nothing to do with this."

"_Don't_ they?" Xaldin teased, and Saix felt himself trembling, "If that's so true, why are you here, trying to stop us? Why are you trying to 'protect' her?" Saix realized there was no reason. He had no heart. Why _was_ he doing any of this? Slowly, Saix tried to stand. It was difficult with five spears plunged into him, but he managed. What was giving him that strength? Was it Xaldin's words? Was it the thought of his own sons? Was it the knowledge that Sith was alive? Saix didn't even know.

"I'm going to the Superior…" he snarled viciously, limping down a few feet, pushing past Xaldin. Xaldin watched him for a moment, and a snarl appeared on his own lips, too. Mercilessly, he plunged one more spear into Saix, and the man dropped after letting out a pitiful squeak of pain. He writhed, but Xaldin just snorted.

"Indeed, you will," he said, and picked Saix up, "But certainly not on your terms, Number Seven."

"_I SAID I DON'T KNOW WHERE SHE WENT!_" Whoever was down there screamed that just as Sith reached the last stair, and Ryou saw her hesitate. Both of them knew that voice damn well, and Sith's breathing became heavy for a long moment. Bakura was in trouble, and now she knew damn well why. She kept silent and too still for a long, long time.

"You were the last to see her," another man said grimly, almost snidely, and Ryou saw her creep along the wall. Quietly, he jumped down the trapdoor and joined her, landing almost silently. She nodded without looking back, and he summoned Zerrkandr. The man continued, "Why do we not believe you? Oh, yes, because you are a lying thief!"

"But I _don't know!_" Bakura screamed angrily, "I swear on my mother's grave!" Sith was inching closer, and saw that two guards were cornering Bakura – not the Bakura _Ryou_ knew, but the one from the past, the one Sith met in this time. She waited again, and Ryou could tell neither guard believed the poor thief. One of them spat near him.

"Your mother's grave is a worthless pile of shit," the guard said, and that's when Sith attacked. She leapt from where she stood and crashed onto his back, her sword going right toward his throat.

"Doesn't mean he was lying, jackass," Sith growled, and promptly slit the man's throat, letting him drop. She snapped her fingers as the next guard turned, but Ryou was just as quick, and hacked his head off easily. The head fell and rolled, Bakura kicking it soundly when it landed next to his sandal. Then he looked up.

"Sith!" he exclaimed gratefully, as she bent down to untie his bonds, "Damn it, knight, where the fuck were you!" She made sure he wasn't too badly injured before she spoke; a few scratches, but he was fine.

"What do you mean?" she asked, brow raised in confusion. Bakura blinked for a long minute, as if he couldn't quite see why she was asking that. Surely, she had been _gone_. Didn't she know where the hell she was?

"Well…" he began, wondering if maybe she had gone into hiding, what with the coming war brewing across the Sea of Ghosts toward Nesce, "You… ah… you disappeared three weeks ago, and no one knows where the hell you went."

"Did I?" she repeated, and Bakura noted she sounded convincingly bewildered, "Any idea why I'd do that?" His look went flat as he looked at her. He couldn't tell if she was playing, or if she was just that scatterbrained.

"At first I thought it was to piss Pharaoh Seth off," he commented, and that confirmed Sith's first question – Yami was not alive in this time, "But with Rath approaching northwest, it was clear you were just _gone_. You wouldn't have left us defenseless like that. So, where'd you go?" Sith looked back at Ryou with wide eyes, and he knew what was going through her head. They were probably going to enter that fateful night personally, and Sith was _not_ just a spectator. She was the real deal. Again.

"Bakura… where is Rath now?" she asked with such a tense voice that Bakura was sure the woman might just snap. He frowned. What on earth was wrong with Sith?

"You… you don't know!" he asked, and Sith slammed her fists against a table, hard, until the wood split. Her eyes flashed red as she glared at Bakura, who began to understand he was dealing with a very angry Esper.

"_No, I DON'T!_" she replied hotly, and felt Ryou trying to restrain her from strangling the thief, "Listen to me. I don't know what's going on; I just arrived here, and I sure as hell did not know we had a war going on. Tell me what is going on!" Bakura looked from her, to Ryou, and did not miss the similarities between himself and the younger boy, however small they may have been. He also did not miss the Millennium Ring dangling from said boy's neck. He looked back to Sith, grinning knowingly.

"I think, dear, you'd better do the same first," he insisted, and Sith now knew she had just caused a shitload of trouble.

Sith told him everything that had happened, from the time she entered the machine, to the point at which she'd come here, to that building, and found him. Bakura listened to her, not knowing what to believe or if he even disbelieved her at all. Her tale, though highly unlikely, was not impossible. And she did have magic, lots of it. But still… time-traveling, locked memories, different eras… it was something Bakura did not truly grasp. And that was because he couldn't fathom the components needed to produce such a vast spell. Or whatever it was Sith had used to get there. Nor did it explain why she had disappeared at all, or why she remembered _nothing_ about the war that had been brewing for _five years_.

"So you're saying when you unlocked the door, you wound up here?" he asked, and Sith nodded, Ryou supporting the story, "You remember nothing at all? Seriously?"

"If I did, I wouldn't ask you to help me," she told him frankly, and held out the scrap Ryou gave her. She hadn't tossed it, after all, "Bakura, I know you wrote this. You're the only one I'd teach this language to. What happened? Did I tell you something would happen?" Bakura looked at the scrap. Definitely his handwriting, shitty as it was because it wasn't hieroglyphics. Then he shook his head.

"That's the thing, Sith," he said, "You came to ask me to help you assemble an army to hold Rath off while you convinced Seth to let the Espers back into the metro. But when I brought them to where your camp was setting up, you weren't there, and the guard on duty said you'd been missing since the previous night." Sith's lips went thin. That was around the time she found out Rath had found a way into the timeline. Now she knew who was responsible.

"And I just vanished," she replied, and Bakura nodded. Then he looked up a bit, thoughtfully.

"Though, come to think of it, Rath also was reported as missing, too," he added, and Sith's mouth dropped, "But she appeared out of nowhere three nights ago."

"_WHAT!_" Sith screamed, and broke free of Ryou to grab the thief's cloak, pulling him out of the chair, "She's _here!_" Bakura shrunk away, and nodded sheepishly. Sith let go of him, and paced in front of the table. That was very, very bad.

"You weren't expecting her to be?" he asked, but she ignored him, turning to Ryou.

"I don't know what the hell she's done, but we're not just watching a memory," she told him grimly, "We're living it." Ryou's eyes widened a bit, and he blinked. Technically, he wasn't alive yet. But Sith was. And if it was true, it was no wonder she'd gone 'missing.'

"So if you kill her, the world will truly change?" he asked, and Sith nodded very stiffly. Not only that, but if she failed, the world would truly end, too. Not a thought either of them wanted to have. Sith turned back to Bakura.

"I know you don't believe me, but as my friend, trust me," she said to him, and he nodded, "We must know where Rath is. She will end the entire universe if I don't stop her. Tell me where she is and how far the war is coming." Bakura couldn't see how either would help, but damn it, the woman was desperate. He took a deep breath.

"I'm not too sure about the location, but she's heading near the King's Valley," the thief told Sith, "And she has a massive army at her disposal." Thinking it best to inform the Esper of their own misfortune, he added, "Unfortunately, when you went missing, everyone I gathered, including your loyal men, scattered like mice. We've got nothing."

"And Seth?" she inquired. Again, Bakura shook his head.

"Convinced that you're dead, and trying to just keep his palace safe from the men in cloaks Rath sent," he replied. Sith's mouth dropped in horror. Men in _cloaks?_ She turned to Ryou, and he agreed to what her thought was.

"Organization XIII," they both said, and Sith asked, "But why are they _here?_" Ryou knew well why. Because of Saix. Because they wanted to torture him to death. But could he be here _with_ them?

"How many of these men were there?" Ryou asked, knowing the answer would be pretty damn important. If Bakura said 'thirteen,' then Saix was there. If not… then they left him behind.

"Ten," Bakura replied, and Sith cursed. Saix was likely not among them. Bakura could not see the problem in that, and added, "My men are good sources, so you can bet your ass there's only ten, Sith. Can you handle them?" Sith glared at him as though he should've known the answer. Zealacht flashed, and Bakura nodded approvingly.

"Handle? I'll likely kill them all," she said casually, and turned to Ryou, "Think we should get involved now, or should we handle Rath before Xemnas?" Truth to tell, Ryou couldn't decide which fight would be worse. Rath was a madwoman and would end the world. But Xemnas had Saix, and would lure Sith to her own doom with him, too.

"Saix would be a good ally, if we can calm him down," Ryou suggested, and Sith nodded. She turned to Bakura.

"Are you absolutely certain you saw them near the metro?" she asked him, and the thief nodded again. There was no doubt in his demeanor that he believed everything he'd been told, including the stuff she just told him. Nor was there a doubt he would help them through it. Sith had been, obviously, a good friend to him. No… she was _still_ a good friend, even if that friendship translated into a knock-down drag-out fight sometimes.

"Then my answer is quite clear," she stated, "Bakura, be safe and get out if you can. I'll handle the problem at the palace." Bakura nodded, and with one last farewell, he slipped away and left them alone. Ryou and Sith stared at each other for a long while, neither knowing what to do just then. Suppose they went after Xemnas. What if Saix was already dead? Then what?

"This concerns me in a way that has nothing to do with you, Ryou," Sith said, after five tense minutes, and he looked down at her, "Do you still want to come?" He nodded, grabbing Zerrkandr's hilt. The blade went blue for a moment.

"Yes. You've saved my world too many times for me to count," he reminded her firmly, "Let me help save yours. Including your family." Sith couldn't help but smile. She had been sure Ryou would balk at having to help Saix; after all, he didn't help Mello much when they went to rescue _him_. But six years was a long time for Ryou to mature, and he did much of that over the past three months. Even to the point of forming a friendship with her own son.

"You've changed," she commented with intrigue. Ryou just grinned.

"I learn from the best," he replied. Sith's smile went flat. Flattery didn't work with Mello, it didn't work with Aeon, and it only made Saix seem like an ass. In short, Ryou stood no chance. He just laughed at her reaction as she shook her head and walked up the stairs.

The two emerged into the darkness, but instantly saw the orb of light created by another Esper. Victor was waiting for them; he had Anzu, Miho, and Yugi with him, but Ryou was concerned when he saw no one else. So was Sith. And judging by the grim look on Victor's face, he had no good news for either of them. In fact, as soon as he saw his mother, Victor was running over. Something terrible must have happened. Why else would their group be cut down to a third of what it once was?

"Mother!" Victor called out, his voice frantic, "Mother, they have him! They have father!" He kept yelling as he ran, his words coming out quicker than he meant, bordering on extreme panic, "Organization XIII took father! They've brought him here!" Sith nearly dropped her sword. Saix was _here!_

"What!" she demanded, unsure whether she had heard right or if she was more terrified than concerned. Victor stopped, gasping for the air he did not breathe before.

"Artemis and I came out to find you when we saw you were gone," Victor began slowly, eyes wide with terror, "We saw them… Xemnas and Xaldin! They had father! Oh, mother, Xaldin was dragging him like some sort of rag doll… I tried to call out, but they ignored me." Sith noticed distinctly that her eldest son was not there. She looked at Victor squarely, and could see his fear was mounting. There was more to the story, more that terrified him.

"Where is your brother?" she asked, and he saw the fire raging in her eyes. Victor shivered under his mother's fierce eyes.

"He was furious. He started screaming at them, and when Xaldin snarled at him…" Victor looked away, and Sith forced him to continue, "He went after them both. The moon's out, you know he inherited it from father…"

"Victor, _where is he?_" Sith asked, more forcefully. Victor pointed, and they all turned. They saw smoke rising out of the northeast, toward the metropolis. Sith's stomach twisted in an angry knot.

"He went to kill Xaldin and release father," Victor answered. And he wished he hadn't. Sith practically screamed. No… no! There was no way in _hell_ she was going after Rath now. Xemnas had her husband. Xemnas had her son! Xemnas was going to have her fury, too. Her eyes blazed almost as much as Saix's did, when he was berserk.

"Götter verdammt sie alle, sie haben mein Mann und jetzt mein Sohn! Xemnas, du Sohn einer Hündin, zur Vorbereitung für den Tod!" Sith screamed, and Ryou knew she was screaming in German. He couldn't understand most of it, but he did know she was screaming at Xemnas, for all it was worth. Sword out, and bloodlust strong on her mind, Sith rushed away toward the smoke. And when she did, she left the five of them behind to watch her.

Not knowing what else to do, Yugi turned to Victor and asked, "What did she say?" Victor snorted, shaking his head. Was his _entire family_ comprised of snarling, death-dealing _lunatics?_

"She's basically cursing Xemnas to death," he replied, and with a grin, added, "And she said a disparaging thing about his mother, too." Leave it to Sith to add insult to… well, more insults. With a smile, Victor bid them to follow him after her. Neither Ryou nor Yugi wanted to know the crazy ideas forming in the half-Esper's head, but all four did want to make sure Sith would be okay. At least, as okay as can possibly be.

Sith ran as fast as she could go. At one point, which seemed so distant in her slowly berserk state, she had considered Rath the biggest threat to Oblivion. And though she still did, Xemnas had become her main source of hatred and bitter wrath. She could not believe Xaldin had managed to beat Saix back home, nor could she believe Artemis had gone after him. But at least he wasn't alone in that; she had known that no one else was inside of the building they'd fallen into, which meant they'd gone with her son. Good. Give Xemnas a reason to sweat when he'd face one Esper, three spirits, Ryuuzaki, and Kaiba. And then Sith, when she finally managed to catch up to them.

Then she remembered what Bakura had told her. No, Xemnas and Xaldin would not be alone. Everyone from Organization XIII would be there. Twelve targets all waiting to murder anyone who dared to stand in their way, and one who needed to be rescued before he was killed. And that was likely going to be very soon. Sith sped up even faster. She wouldn't let it happen. Not after meeting Victor and Artemis.

The sandy dunes dipped and jumbled the flat roads, but Sith did not follow the flats. Instead, she plowed right through the sand, her boots stomping hard, crushing anything that wasn't solid enough to hold her weight. Even being buffeted by blistering sand didn't slow her. And when it did, she took Zealacht, slammed it into the ground, and used the force of her blow to propel her into the air as high and as far as humanly possible. She couldn't yet fly, but this was far faster. Already, she saw over the protective walls of the metro and could see that destruction had followed the Organization. Or perhaps it'd been there already. She wasn't sure. But she wasn't going to dare bother asking. When dealing with enemies on all sides who were just waiting to crush you, Sith learned the best defense was to slice first and ask questions never. That was what Aeon was for.

About a quarter mile away from the metropolis, however, Sith was stopped entirely. Not by anything forcing her to stop, but by what she saw. Malik, Bakura, Kaiba, and Jou were running out of the gate, and when they saw her landing, they frantically did what they could to get her attention. At first, Sith barely heard them. But when she saw Kaiba was equipped with a launcher and was about to fire at her to blow her single wing clean off, she knew something was wrong. Especially for _him_ to become involved in the slaughter. She landed, wondering just how bad things were becoming.

"Don't you dare tell me the place is destroyed," she growled, and Malik backed away at the snarl in her voice. She sounded guttural, almost as though she'd forgotten how to speak for a few years. It frightened the blonde.

"Not yet, but we've got loads of trouble everywhere we turn," Malik told her, trying to remain calmer than he actually was, "Mystics, heartless, demons, Organization XIII… whatever can come to crush us, they have." He saw Sith's eyes blaze nearly white with fury. Now he got out of her way completely, especially when Zealacht's blade burned so furiously that it, too, began to emit a white glow.

"And what of my son, and of the others?" she growled, and now Malik knew the source of her pure-white hatred. This wasn't just a battle. This was personal now. He pointed toward the gates, splintered and smoking where magic had singed them.

"Battling everything that moves," Malik replied, and Sith spat out curse after curse in both Esper and German. Then she gripped her sword and dashed right in. She didn't even care if any of the nine people behind her now followed or not.

Saix was slammed forcefully onto the ground, and with his vision already swimming with the blows Xaldin repeatedly gave him, he was lucky he was still conscious. No, he was lucky he was still alive. But when he hit the ground, nothing else came to kick more of his life force out of him. That was… all right. He already felt as if he were fading. But how long would the relent last?

"Get up, Luna Diviner," came Xemnas's voice, though it felt foggy in Saix's battered mind. He looked down at the ground dizzily, and tried to push himself up. But everything was spinning, and he managed to just fall flat on the ground again. He smelled his own blood trickling down his nose.

"Number Seven, _stand up!_" Xemnas said with more force, and Saix tried his best to comply. But god damn it, he lost so much blood! His body trembled all over, a feeling he learned quickly that he hated almost as much as he hated his heart. He managed to get into a pitiful crouch, before his head threatened to burst. He felt another slam on his head from another damned spear, and was nearly sent reeling.

"Saix, _get up or I'll kill you!_" Xaldin spat, and out of pure hatred, Saix rose and glared venomously at the older man. He was a poor sight, indeed. Xaldin was in perfect health, and would easily snap him in half. He, on the other hand, was bruised and torn apart, his cloak and hair matted with his own blood. And he was still trembling.

"Go… to… hell," he managed to growl, and Xaldin smacked him so hard that he fell over once again. This time, he didn't get up. Xaldin just looked down with a sneer; finally, the great Overseer of the Organization had fallen.

"What a pathetic tale woven," he said to the fallen Nobody, "Is this truly what you want, Saix? To be cast out because of one possibility that may not happen? How utterly disgusting. I thought you had more will than this." Saix did. He had so much more will than that. So why did all of the sudden his life spiral out of his own control? He said nothing.

"What do we do with him?" he faintly heard Xigbar ask, "We really going to kill him?"

"He has defected. Give me a reason not to," that son of a bitch, Xaldin, replied, "Just one. Maybe I'll let him live long enough to see Sith die." Saix wanted to snarl and rip Xaldin's throat out, but as it was, he was too weak to manage a whimper.

"Wait!" Axel exclaimed, and Saix's ears perked momentarily, wondering just what the fiery red was going to suggest, "Why kill him at all? Sith isn't our enemy, and she won't be if we let him live." Saix could see nothing, but he had a feeling Xemnas was listening carefully to the suggestion.

"And your point?" was the monotonous question. Axel grinned.

"Think about it, boss man. Maybe we're not losing a member. Maybe we're gaining three," he said, and Saix's spine froze, "He marries Sith, we turn her into a Nobody. She has children, we turn them into Nobodies, too. See what I'm getting at?" Saix indeed saw, and now he hated himself for ever returning. He shouldn't have gone off and left Sith, Victor, or Artemis. Now all three of them were going to become heartless, and it'd be his fault. But why did he care? That was the one question that kept pounding into his already-throbbing head. Why did he even care about any of this? It's not as though it even happened yet.

"Yes… Sith would make a powerful Nobody indeed," Xemnas agreed, and looked down at Saix, "But… I wonder… could Victor and Artemis come to be if both parents are Nobodies?"

"We could test it!" Demyx volunteered, grinning at Larxene. Who promptly kicked him so hard where it hurt that he crumpled over much like Saix had. Axel gave a snort of laughter. But Xemnas ignored the two entirely. He bent down to whisper in Saix's ear.

"What do you think, Luna Diviner?" he asked, his breath agonizingly hot on the man's ears, "Are you ready to serve the Organization and bring forth three powerful allies?" Saix wasn't, and never would be. When he had first wanted to be married, so many damn years ago, he had never thought it'd be like this.

"The Superior asked you a question, whelp. Answer him!" Xaldin said, and Saix felt his hatred reach its paramount. He shook. He didn't want to do this to any of them! But if he refused, all four of them would die. He couldn't bring himself to do it. He couldn't ask Artemis or Victor to give up their existence. He couldn't ask Sith to die.

"Yes…" he answered quietly, "I'll do it…"

"Father, _NO!_" Saix's eyes widened when he heard that scream. Artemis! Where had he come from? Why was he here! Oh, good god… Saix now knew why they'd brought him to this time. Sith was here, somewhere, and likely not far from them. This was a trap, and he just set it off.

"Who the hell are…" Xigbar began, just as the blue-haired, wild-eyed, and slightly-smaller-than-Saix man burst into the courtyard, "…you." Well, shit, now Saix was in trouble.

"Let my father go, you sons of submariners, or I swear I'll drop so much black blood that even darkness itself will flee before me," Artemis growled, and before anyone else spoke, he slammed straight into Xaldin and began raking the man with his claws. He knew damn well who'd left his father as little more than a bloody heap before them.

Xaldin was still much stronger. He threw the young Esper off of him, and Artemis went sprawling. But he recovered very quickly, and merely began his assault again. The two went flying all over the place, wind howling and throwing sand at everything within the area, buffeting every person gathered, even in the chaos in the streets. Xigbar aimed his gun to try and shoot Artemis… but he couldn't get a clear shot. He knew he'd end up shooting Xaldin as well.

"Your little brat's going to kill him, Saix," Saix heard Xigbar tell him, "Control the little monster!" Heh. Like that was going to happen now. Saix almost prayed Artemis managed to get Xaldin. He'd finally know what pride was like.

Xaldin was much more enduring than Artemis anticipated. He blocked many of Artemis's swipes, and when he finally got an opening, he grabbed the boy's throat and began to strangle him. Artemis screamed, kicking and slashing as frantically as he could, no one else either helping him or Xaldin for fear of being caught up in the fight. Xaldin just laughed. This was almost fun, tearing two wild berserkers apart. Then he felt Saix tackle him as well. But he merely flipped Saix over and slammed him onto the ground again.

Then a new assault came directly from behind him. He felt a third person jump on his back, and he grunted. Whoever it was wasn't heavy in the least, but he found he couldn't throw them off. Whoever it was had a lot of physical strength. And when he tried, he found a sword wedged right below his chin, where his neck was. More importantly, where the most sensitive part of his throat was. And he recognized that sword. Damn it all to Ansem, how many people came after them!

"Do it, and you will die," A woman's voice hissed in his ear, and he felt a tail wrapping around his waist and constricting him. If Sith's sword didn't slit him, her tail would simply crush him. There wasn't even a question to her tone; she was really going to end his life if he kept the fight.

"Like a moth to a flame," he commented with a chuckle, but then her tail wrapped further, and he nearly choked. Saix stood just long enough to see Sith kneeling on Xaldin's back, sword drawn at his throat, and tail ready to crush him in. He honestly could say he felt a pang of pride. _No one_ had ever gotten Xaldin to such a helpless situation, and even if he did as Sith said, she was in a perfect position to hit him no matter what happened.

"No one is taking my sons or Saix back to your world," Sith told them all acidly, wing twitching furiously, "Now, all of you, get out. Open your portals, go through them, and don't you dare come back. If I so much as see you, I will make sure you burn in hell for eternity." She glared at each member in succession, and no one doubted the depths of her rage. Some could honestly say they had no wish to test her, or to hurt Saix at all. But a few felt more than a little miffed at his treachery. Xaldin was one of those few, and he growled, throwing her clear off his back. She tumbled to the ground, and yelped when one spear nearly cut through her.

"No one needs to," he told her, with a grin she knew she did not like, "He's already dealt your sentence for you." Sith's brows creased as she rolled over, lifting herself up before the second and third spears found their mark. She deflected the fourth one, and leapt off the end of the fifth to bat the last one away. Her tail slammed Xaldin in the face, but it merely swept him back. When she landed, she was staring right at him.

"What do you mean by _that?_" she demanded, and when he crossed his arms, she held her sword at the ready, tip aimed for his chest, "Any tricks and you'll be eating my blade." Xaldin's eyes narrowed as he looked at her. There wouldn't need to be tricks involved. She was already _right there_.

"No need, Sith," he said darkly, "You were doomed… the second you walked through that doorway." Sith blinked, and turned to stare at Saix quizzically. He couldn't look at her. He couldn't look and tell her he just promised to turn her into a heartless so she could live. Her eyes widened, and she seemed to get the idea. She dropped Zealacht, and ran over to get some answers from him, something to explain what was being said, what would happen to her.

Before she even reached him, Lunatic flashed out and slammed her right across the face. Sith dropped and slammed against the ground before him, looking up at him, but unable to speak. She knew the words, but her mouth wouldn't form them. For a moment, she tried. She moved her mouth to speak those words, but no sound would come out. Saix had crushed her voice box, somehow. Or perhaps he just rattled the part of her that knew how to speak. Regardless, as he turned away, he heard the thought going through her.

…_Saix… why?_ He shut his eyes, knowing he couldn't tell her that answer. He also knew she might not forgive him if she lived through it.

-(End chapter)

Sith and Yami finally unlocked the memory that held the events leading to Rath's creation. But not all is calm there. Not only is the war on Egypt escalating, but Sith once again finds herself living through it. Even worse, Organization XIII is closer to obtaining her as a heartless. Why has Saix given her up to Xemnas? Will Artemis and Victor be spared? Will Ryou come to their aid? Find out next chapter, so click that Review button!


	10. Saix's Resolve

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or Kingdom Hearts. Takahashi owns Yu-Gi-Oh, and Square-Enix owns Kingdom Hearts. Neither think Sith should be a heartless.

…_Saix… why?_ Damn it, he did not want to hear that voice as he turned away, leaving her there on the ground. _Why did you do this to us?_ He had no answers. He didn't want to have answers, not for her. Fists clenched, with Lunatic on his back, Saix began to walk away, leaving Sith at Xaldin's mercy. _Saix… please!_ No, he would not turn around and watch. He did not see as Xaldin picked Sith up gently, he did not see them leave through a portal of darkness, and he did not see the others following. He did not see Xemnas's smile, triumphant in the shadows that covered his face. All he saw was the sand, and the wall of the courtyard in front of him. Damn it, what did he just do?

…_Why won't you stop them?_ What did she want him to do! Try and fight Xaldin again? That resulted in his current state: battered, bruised, and nearly defeated. No, he could do nothing to stop them, and he didn't plan to. He'd done his part. It was up to Sith now.

…_Why won't you help me?_ Why should he? Sith was just an annoyance, and he was just a Nobody. He had no feelings. He had no heart. He had no want to help her. That was it, really. He was finally rid of the little wench and her children. Let the future unfold without him. Feeling his own reasoning vindicated him, Saix walked toward the gates out into the main streets. It was done. He could go. Except that the persistent voice did not cease, even if her body was gone.

…_what did I do to deserve this?_ Saix stopped. That question was what truly tore at him. She had done nothing to deserve what he just did to her. She had done nothing but try to save Oblivion, and try to be there for the sons they didn't have just yet. Try to be there for _him_, too. Saix's body froze again. God damn it! No! He didn't feel anything about this! He had no heart!

Yet, if that were true, why did he feel so horrible? Saix looked down at his own boots, and frowned. He _shouldn't_ have feelings, but he felt like the lowest person on the planet. He made a deal with Xemnas over Sith's life, and he handed her over without so much as a fight. Even if Xaldin was right and there was no hope for a future, she hadn't deserved that kind of betrayal. Not after she helped them live through the imbalance of magic. He shouldn't have cared. But he did. Maybe he had more of a heart than he thought.

Not knowing where he could go – though he knew he couldn't return to the World that Never Was – Saix sighed and sat down against the wall. Then, he buried his face in his hands and shook his head. This was, to him, so screwed up. Life had been so simple when it was just Organization XIII. No Espers, no Mystics, and no children. Just heartless, and gathering hearts. What happened to that, anyway? Why did Xemnas even _want_ Sith on their side? Espers wouldn't make good Nobodies… or would they?

"Why'd you do it?" came a quiet voice, and Saix looked up to see Artemis staring down at him. His hair was a mess of blue around his stained face, and there was an ugly scar on his right cheek where Xaldin's spear had cut him. His eyes, though narrowed, were shining with tears. "Why'd you do that to my mother?"

"I… I don't know," Saix replied honestly, and yelped when he felt Artemis grab his collar and hoist him to his feet. Then he stared down at the boy, and Artemis glared furiously at his father. Or rather, the man who _should_ be his father.

"_You gave my mother up!_" Artemis yelled, eyes blazing, and Saix felt himself back away, knowing whose strength the young man inherited, "You… you… _YOU SON OF A BITCH!_" Saix looked up, and cursed. The moon was still out. Artemis was going to lose his mind if he didn't do something. But what could he do? Saix could barely control _himself_, let alone his own son.

"I had no choice!" Saix cried back, and for once, he felt his own voice shake, "He would have killed you all! Artemis, please, believe this!"

"_Where did he take her!_" Artemis snarled, and Saix saw the first signs of that rage, saw Artemis's hair spike up, his eyes flashing pure yellow, "_WHERE IS MY MOTHER!_" Neither noticed that Victor and Ryou had just pushed through the gathering crowd and emerged within the courtyard. Saix backed away again. He didn't have the strength for this. He couldn't possibly fight Artemis. Not without getting killed.

"Artemis, you have to calm down!" Saix exclaimed, "Please, I promise Sith is all right! Just give me some time!"

"_You don't deserve time!_" Artemis roared, and lunged right for Saix. Saix rolled away in time, with Artemis slamming into the sand, but in three seconds, the two clashed again. Saix barely had time to bring Lunatic up to deflect his son's frantic attacks. And soon, Artemis roared in frustration when he felt two others trying to restrain him. No doubt, it was Victor and his friend.

"Art, what the hell are you doing!" Victor demanded, as he and Ryou pulled the furious Esper away from Saix, "Why're you attacking our father! I know you're berserk, but he…" Artemis snarled ferociously, and turned on his little brother. Victor's skin paled. Artemis was more than berserk. He was pissed as all hell. He spat, and pointed rigidly to Saix.

"That man just gave our mother to Xemnas," he told the younger Esper, and Victor stared, "They took her and are going to turn her into a Nobody."

"What!" Victor exclaimed, eyes wide with terror as he looked from his brother, to his father, "But… but he wouldn't! Father… Father loves mother! He _loves her!_"

"Not in this time, little brother," Artemis reminded him bitterly, and turned toward Saix again, "He doesn't love anyone. Not us, not our mother, not even himself. He doesn't know what love even is. I doubt he ever did, even with his good-for-nothing heart." Ryou and Victor watched as Artemis stormed toward the gates, not even looking at the broken man before him. Artemis merely pushed past Saix. Then, he moved on, vanishing into the din of the crowds in the street, who had been oblivious to the whole ordeal. Victor watched his brother leave, eyes wide, before looking at Saix.

"Father… it can't be true, can it?" Victor asked, but Saix said nothing. He turned away, looking at the sand. Victor glanced at Ryou, and the younger boy took a breath. He wasn't quite sure anything _he_ would say could possibly help the Nobody out. But he knew that if Sith were here, she'd be the first one to try and help him.

Going toward, and kneeling besides Saix, Ryou gently asked, "What happened to force you to do this?" He could see that Saix was trembling, even if the Nobody did everything he could to hide it. He understood clearly the man was conflicted – not just with himself, but with a heart he shouldn't have had.

"They would have killed her anyway," Saix began slowly, his voice cracking, almost not sounding like him, "They… they used me like a trap. They knew she was coming for them, or would have eventually. My god… like the horrible pawn I am, I led her right to them. I fed her to those rabid wolves.

"We aren't supposed to have hearts," he explained, finding a level of strength in those words as he looked at the two boys, "Sith has already said this. But somehow, seeing you, Victor… and Artemis… maybe it was because I'd always thought of a family, back when I had my heart. Maybe it was the thought of caring again. I'm not sure, and I may never be sure. But it did change… something.

"Xaldin didn't care that I would end up with Sith," he finally said, and his voice became embittered, cold, "He saw the future, there is no doubt. He saw that I had _loved_ someone. He saw that weakness. And he used it on us both." Saix took a shuddering breath, wanting to remind himself again and again that this wasn't his problem, but also knowing what he'd just given away. Knowing Sith's death would be on his hands, if they didn't succeed in turning her into a heartless.

"Couldn't you save her?" Ryou asked him, and Saix stared, "Why can't you go and get her back? What's stopping you?" Saix snorted, and then he just laughed. It was a strange sound, almost as if it'd been forced. And at first, it was. Then it came through freely, and he wiped away a tear that had barely formed. Suicide, to him, was almost funny.

"Xaldin's assault was relentless. And then to go and fight my own son," Saix began, and shook his head, "Ryou Bakura, I haven't the strength left. I doubt I can even open the portal of darkness to find her."

"Mom said the same when you left her in the future," Victor told him, and Saix looked up at the boy, "She said she didn't have her strength anymore. But she found the will to go on, because she wanted to see you again. Don't you want to see her, too?" Saix's eyes widened just a tiny bit as he heard this. Sith had said the same thing… all because he hadn't been there? Did she feel that now, even if he was the one who did this? Saix looked away.

"…I do," he finally said. Victor's worry seemed to ease a bit.

"Then come on! Let's go and save mother," Victor said encouragingly. Saix allowed himself a very small smile. He could see Sith's face, frozen in disbelief as he walked in and took her off the wall Xaldin would no doubt spear her to. He could see the look of utter astonishment, and then of annoyance when he'd hold it over her head that she needed his help again. He could even feel the comfort he'd have annoying her, too. It gave him a warmth he wasn't used to.

"…you all would help me?" he asked, and Victor's smile seemed to fade. To him, that was a stupid question. Saix was his _father_. He deserved nothing less than his son's help.

"Yes," Victor replied, and Artemis bitterly added, "Even if you're the reason she needs to be rescued, too." Saix couldn't fully look Artemis in the face, but he did see that his eldest son's expression softened just a little bit. Maybe this really was the right thing to do.

"Besides, Sith isn't just part of your life," Ryou reminded the man, and Saix looked down, "She's part of ours, too. And she has a lot of friends who'll come after her when they figure out that your leader took her. She'll come back to us. I promise you." Saix hated the thought of letting someone else rescue the person he really should have been protecting, but he accepted that he needed help. He was only one Nobody, and though he was powerful, he had twelve adversaries to take down before he could even reach Sith.

"If we're going to go after them, you need to know how to fight heartless and Nobodies. We can't rely on Sith's magic anymore," Saix said, his voice sounding strained. He was growing more and more exhausted with each second. And by horrible chance, everyone else had caught up and was blocking the only exit in case he tried to run.

"What do we need to do?" Ryou asked, glancing at the group and praying none of his friends would notice that Sith was not with them. Saix didn't even seem to notice that they had come. He stood up, stretching a bit. The movement almost brought forth an unwelcome yawn.

"Weapons of light will be the most powerful, but without a Keyblade, we cannot truly vanquish the heartless. Until we physically stop Rath, they'll continue to come. The best to hope for is to keep them off our backs until we rescue Sith," Saix said, and drew Lunatic out, "My weapon is not based in light, but it has slain the heartless before. I believe any enchantment damages them."

"I've got one of the Swords of Mercy that we were supposed to be looking for," Ryou told him, and Saix's brow arched, "We have a few magical weapons." Saix gave him a sardonic grin, and motioned toward the new group. He had seen them all, after all.

"Not nearly enough to outfit your friends," he commented, and Ryou nodded reluctantly, "That is… fine. We do not need such a large group."

"Don't you have any other weapons?" Anzu asked, as Jou said, "What the hell's a keyblade, anyway!" Saix gave them both particularly patronizing looks, and it was clear he didn't approve of Sith's 'friends' at all. Ryou felt he was getting awfully cocky to be making that kind of judgment. But he didn't dare oppose.

"A keyblade is a weapon forged specifically for slaying darkness, though no one knows who created them, or for what purpose," Saix explained, and then added, "As for other weapons, I have only my sword." Well, that was convenient enough for him. Ryou looked down at Zerrkandr. Would it be enough to survive the heartless? Sith had only mentioned them a few times, and that was to comment on how the Mystics – Amber specifically – had unleashed them. But she never said what truly killed them. For years, Ryou believed it was her magic. But what if she never killed even one?

"Sith never spoke about a keyblade," Ryou said, and Saix wasn't surprised. Maybe Sith didn't even know about them.

"That's because she never knew of them, and I never told her," the man replied with a smug grin, "She isn't my wife yet. I don't spill my secrets." Ryou could only nod. And it was then that someone looked around and took notice that the Esper was gone. Ryou silently cursed. He had hoped to keep her disappearance a secret. Then he realized how stupid that hope was. They were bound to notice when she didn't join them in leaving.

"…where _is_ Sith, anyway?" Malik asked, and looked at Saix, "She ran for you as soon as she heard you…"

"I _know_," Saix said, and turned away. Ryou knew that every reminder he had made him hate himself even more. Sighing, Saix said, "I am the reason she isn't here." He dared a glance, and saw more skeptical glances than furious ones. Obviously, no one but Artemis, Ryou, and Victor believed him. But that was only because they were the ones who'd been there personally.

"Did you tell her to leave you alone?" Ryuuzaki asked curiously, and when Saix stared, he said, "Sith was pretty set on finding you. And you don't seem like the person who likes that kind of attention. Did she get annoying?" All Saix could do was snort and shake his head. Yeah, Sith had definitely been annoying. But it was an annoyance Saix had grown to understand, one he knew he was going to miss.

"It wasn't that," Saix replied, "Sith… Xemnas has it in his mind that she would be the perfect heartless. And he's right. She's powerful and has no ties to any world. No one would miss her." Ryou knew there were a lot of people who'd miss her, but he didn't say that. This was painful enough for Saix to admit.

"Things changed when they learned of Artemis and Victor," Saix continued quietly, and his eyes seemed to dim a bit as he spoke, "Not just for Sith or for myself. They saw me as a traitor, giving up my life as a Nobody for the heart I do not have. They wanted both of us dead, though they would have loved to see me first." It was difficult to imagine it, but the tone in Saix's voice made it clear he wasn't lying. He couldn't look in anyone's eyes, but he had a feeling they believed him, and more, they blamed him.

"They kidnapped Sith," Anzu said, and when Saix nodded, she asked, "Did she give herself up?"

"I gave her up," Saix corrected, and Anzu's mouth dropped. Everyone's nearly did, "Axel offered Xemnas an ultimatum to save my life. If I marry Sith and turn her into a heartless, then we will have what we all want. Even further, it would turn Artemis and Victor into heartless as well." Ryou could see that both Ryuuzaki and Bakura were growing cold toward the Nobody, but Anzu, Miho, and most of the others were not so cruel. Some even seemed to understand his choice, even if they didn't _understand_ it.

"You took the deal," Bakura said, and it sounded accusatory. Saix closed his eyes and nodded.

"If I hadn't, I knew Xaldin would kill Sith," he replied, but even to him, it sounded like a pitiful excuse, "I… I _feared_ he'd kill her. And I couldn't let that happen."

"Even knowing what they'd do to her!" Bakura demanded, his voice growing hot with fury, and he grabbed Saix's collar, "Even knowing she'd suffer every second with them! You think that's better than death!" Ryou was disheartened to see that Saix was shivering under Bakura's heated glare. And Bakura did not relent. "You should have just killed her yourself, you heartless…"

"_I almost did!_" Saix roared, with a force that made them all duck in terror. He looked ready to go berserk at any second as he stared into Bakura's eyes, "How do you think I feel right now! How would you feel if you hit someone you loved so hard that you nearly broke them in half!" Bakura's eyes widened, and he stepped back. He was angry, yes, but he now felt… bad. Saix was obviously conflicted.

"You… you hit her?" Victor asked, and Saix growled, "Father?"

"I just wanted her to go away," the older man admitted, "I just… I don't even know what the hell I want anymore." Tired, he leaned against the wall and let his head rest in his hand. His headache was steadily getting worse. Artemis, who had begun to hate his father for what had happened, was now trying to help support the man. He felt his father's body trembling with exhaustion. He hated that feeling.

"But you _do_ love her," he whispered, and Saix looked at him curiously, "You said 'someone you love.' You love mother." Saix hadn't even realized he had said it. Now that he had… well, he felt foolish. Did he love her? Well, sure, as much as he could without a heart. But that didn't mean a damn thing. Even if he did, he gave her up to Xemnas. Then he remembered what Ryou said. What was stopping him from getting her back?

Smiling weakly, he ruffled his eldest son's hair and said, "I do. I just wish I hadn't been so weak. Maybe then, your mother would be safe and you all would be back in your own time." Ryou knew it wouldn't have been that simple. There was the little problem of Rath still being at large and destroying the timeline. Sith would not, under any circumstance, let her go.

"You really think Sith would take us home just because your friends showed up?" Malik asked him, and when Saix bit his lip, Malik laughed, "Yeah, right! She'd make _me_ work three times as hard just so we can _stop_ them!"

"Would she really?" Saix asked, and there was a tone of amusement that Ryou recognized as being… well, amused. But also quite interested. Obviously, Saix didn't quite know Sith well enough to understand that she was as commanding as she was annoying. Sighing, Ryou patted his back and gestured toward the gates.

"We've got to figure out a way to find her, right?" he asked, and Saix nodded, "Right. If you want, I'll tell you about her while we figure out what to do next." Saix thought about it for a minute. At first, he wanted to accept the deal. But then where would the fun be? What would he be looking for when she came back? There'd be no surprises for him. Just mild annoyance. For a reason he didn't understand, he didn't want that at all.

No one knew where the best place to go was, but Yami had the idea that heading to the palace was not a good idea for a number of reasons. Though it was Organization XIII's plans to cut Sith off _there_, Yami thought that he'd see himself if they so much as stepped inside, and he knew that'd create a temporal paradox – one that Sith had wanted to avoid when _she_ left with Aeon. He also knew that if they went into the palace and didn't find him sitting on the throne, then someone would mistake him – that is, _Yami _– as being the former pharaoh. That'd create even bigger problems. And heading anywhere in the city was just as bad. After all, Rath was still destroying the place with her army.

In the end, they had to go back. They had to return to the ruins of Kul Elna, the only place where no one would find them. That was the best place to go to figure out what to do next. The problems, however, kept mounting even as they made it there safely. For one, when they returned, the machine did not come back as it previously had. In fact, the small room was as bare as they'd left it. The only difference was that the sun was up. Slits of orange light lit up the room, and only confirmed that there was nothing of interest there.

Feeling disappointed, but not surprised, Saix walked in, sat down, and said, "I don't suppose you know how to call your time box back, do you?" Malik felt himself getting embarrassed. The truth was that he _didn't._ He wasn't even sure it could come back.

"If it hasn't come back by now, chances are it's gone," Kaiba commented grimly, and crossed his arms as he leaned against a pale, dusty wall, "The equipment is stable, but only in a stable environment. Something as shaky as the timeline is bound to cause corruption and error wherever we go."

"So basically, we're screwed?" Malik asked, and Kaiba snorted, a smirk forming on his face. In the half-shadow, he looked almost too sinister.

"Unless you have another way to traverse time, then yes, we are," the older man replied smugly. Malik's glare hardened. He'd have loved to send Kaiba screaming right into the pits of hell, but he knew Kaiba was accurate. There was no other way for them to leave, not unless Victor still had Aeon's watch. From what he remembered, Victor had given it to Sith in the future.

"How can we save Sith if we can't get out?" Miho asked, looking at everyone else, trying to see if anyone had an idea to help them. Her eyes rested on Saix the longest; he was, after all, a member of the group that had abducted the Esper. His lips thinned in distaste. He didn't like being singled out at all.

"If I were stronger, I could open up a portal of darkness, and we could escape through that," he grumbled, mostly in denigration toward himself. Ryou understood now how much it hurt for Saix to be helpless. He was terrifyingly powerful by his own right. Why _couldn't_ he do more to stop Xemnas? Maybe it was those feelings that had caused him to lose his heart in the first place.

"What about the Shadow Realm?" Yugi suggested, but Bakura shook his head. Judging by his own dour expression, there was a reason he hadn't suggested it.

"It was destroyed after Falnika took residence in the core of Oblivion," the old thief said, "The imbalance ripped apart several planes, and that one was one of them." So much for relying on their Millennium items, either. It seemed as if every passing moment diminished their options. If only Sith could be there!

"Would Katt know of anything?" Ryou found himself asking. Malik was particularly disturbed with the question, but he waved it away and looked toward one of the crumbling slits in the wall. One blow from any spell would destroy it. Ryou hoped Rath was not close.

"No one's seen her since we left our own era," the blonde told him, and now Ryou understood the discomfort. He hadn't even noticed Katt hadn't been with them. But had Sith? For that matter, Katt might have stayed back in fear of being captured, as well. Or because Sith might have told her to. Ryou's brow rose.

"Did she enter the machine?" he asked. Malik's expression went from mild annoyance, to curiosity.

"I… _thought_ she did," Malik replied, and then realized that he hadn't even been paying that much attention. Sith hadn't made mention of her sister, either. He remembered the two had talked briefly… but about what? Where _was_ Katt? Grumbling, he said, "I think those two had another plan up their sleeve."

"Don't we always?" Ryou and Malik turned quickly, and both of them screamed when a portal of darkness appeared right there on the wall. Katt stepped out of it. But that wasn't what caused them to scream. What truly had was what was standing behind Katt. It was Axel. And he was grinning as though nothing bad had happened. His grin widened when he saw Saix. But for the latter… well, Ryou could honestly say that any man who hurt Sith would be killed if Saix was there to see it.

"What the hell are you doing here!" Saix demanded, and his eyes flashed dangerously yellow for a second as he beheld his fellow Nobody. But Axel wasn't even intimidated. He waved the harsh words away.

"Relax, Moon Man. We're not here to kill you," he replied, and Saix became more perplexed than angry. He looked from Axel, to Katt. She grinned at him, a grin that was all too different from Sith's normally gaunt smirk. He did not like it.

"You two had better tell me what the hell is going on," he snarled, "Where is she?"

"Still with Xemnas," Katt told him, and his snarl turned feral. Katt screamed when he lunged for her, but Axel held up a chakram and slammed Saix right in the gut. The blue-haired Nobody yelped and went flying backward into the wall. Artemis's mouth dropped as he watched his father slide down. Then, he turned to Katt, a similar snarl forming on his face. _No one_ defeated his father, including himself.

"Why the hell are you here instead of _saving my mother!_" he asked her, and Katt's brow perked. Obviously, she hadn't been filled in on that part. She also hadn't been aware of the similarities between Saix and this new opponent standing before her. At least, not until now.

"Mother!" Katt exclaimed, and then she just laughed, "My sister? Your _mother!_ Good lords of Zellos, who the hell is the _father?_" She laughed until tears formed in her eyes, and she casually wiped them away. That was, until she saw Artemis and who she knew as Shimbou pointing to Saix. Her laughter ended abruptly as a sharp yip.

"_Me_," Saix said darkly, and stood up. He smiled almost maliciously at both Katt and Axel. It was clear that death was on his mind as he said, "Now kindly tell me where Sith is, or _I will kill you_." Ryou felt that was a little harsh, but he also remembered Axel was there when Sith was abducted.

"Do that and you won't ever get to her," Axel warned, and when Saix's ears lowered in frustration, he continued, "Saix, as hard as it is to believe, some of us want to help you." This time, Saix looked like he was going to start laughing.

"_Help_ me?" he mocked, and snorted derisively at them both, "You've beaten me to a bloody pulp, forced me into sealing Sith's soul, threatened my sons, and then abducted the mother of those sons, and now you want to _help me?_" Put that way, it was easy to see why he didn't believe them. But there was one saving grace here. Katt was involved.

"We can trust Katt," Ryou said quickly, and Saix looked down at him, "She is Sith's sister." Saix's smirk returned, almost too smugly, almost too knowing.

"Except that she _was not here to begin with_," the Nobody corrected harshly, and looked up, "Were you, Katt? Or are you still pretending to be Katt, Zexion?"

"No, this time it's really me," Katt replied, and grinned as she brightly added, "But he did look a lot like me, didn't he?" Saix's nostrils flared as he regarded the red-headed woman with disdain. At that, yes, he did. And Saix had wanted to throttle him then, too.

"I can't tell which of you I wish to kill first," Saix growled, and tapped Lunatic's tip on the marble ground, "Now, do tell me this plan of yours. Before I _truly_ get angry." Ryou knew he didn't want to see that, and he prayed someone had let Katt know what a violent temper Saix had.

"Should we?" she asked Axel, and Ryou slapped his forehead. He wished Sith were here just to keep Saix from going completely insane. Axel gave her a grin, and looked at Saix with a mixture of pity and amusement.

"I had a feeling something was going on, to be honest with you, Saix," Axel began, and crossed his arms as he leaned against the wall, "So did Zexion. So, we watched you for a bit. It was pretty interesting, seeing you the way you were with her. It was like watching you in a new light, you were always so amused with her." Saix's lips thinned unhappily, and Ryou could tell he was embarrassed with those words. But he didn't deny them. Axel's grin softened.

"We started talking about it, wondering what could happen," he continued, "I mean, she's pretty much a Nobody herself, right? She has a heart, it's just crippled and old."

"You realize she's our _friend_, right?" Malik cut in irritably, but Axel waved it away as if he hadn't spoken.

"Anyway, Zexion said it was getting dangerous. And we knew we couldn't go to Sith. So, we went to Katt instead," Axel said, and Saix blinked, "We told her about you, and asked her what she thought we ought to do." Saix looked over at Katt. She had been studying him carefully, still trying to figure out what Sith had possibly seen to accept him as her husband. If she truly had.

"Truth to tell, I didn't know if I wanted to scream or just cry," Katt told him honestly, and Ryou knew he had taken offense, "Between you and Mello, it's a miracle Sith still believes in men. Both of you have explosive tempers, though I suppose you're more… sane about it.

"To make a long story short, however, Zexion, Axel, and I decided we needed to keep a close eye on you and make sure Xemnas didn't find out what was happening to you," Katt continued, and Saix's mouth dropped, "I had Zexion morph into a replica of myself, and had him spy on you while I stayed in our world and tried to distract Xemnas. It almost worked."

"What went wrong?" Jou asked her, and Katt looked at him for a long moment. She wasn't sure how many of them were actually believing her, but she knew at least a few of them were curious enough. And Jou seemed genuine in his worry.

"Saix _cared_ about her," Katt replied, and Saix froze, "He started to _care_ about what happened to her and if she'd be all right." Judging by that frozen expression, Ryou knew there was no denying that, either. He looked from the Nobody, to Katt, and then back to Saix. He wanted to try to help them both, but he understood it was an awkward position for the two of them as it was.

"So they want to kill him because his heart's coming back?" Ryou asked, and saw Saix wince a bit, "Isn't that what they want?"

"This is different, Ryou," Axel said seriously, more seriously than he'd ever been, "See, as an organization, we prefer working toward a common, larger goal. But Saix… well, him leaving is seen as a defect. It wouldn't be seen as something 'for the Organization.' It's being seen as 'for Saix." Xemnas probably didn't like that idea very much. But was it so bad for Saix to leave? He seemed… happy. As happy as he could've been, Ryou supposed.

"And knowing they can't kill him, they took Sith instead?" Malik asked, but Saix shook his head vigorously.

"I gave her to them," Saix corrected, with as much hatred toward himself as he had before, "In exchange for my own life. Whatever that's worth, now." Ryou's brows creased. He understood Saix's pain, but enough was enough. Saix was desperate and was being _beaten to death_ right in front of Sith.

"You don't think she'd have gone with them to save your life willingly?" Ryou asked him frankly, and Saix stared down at him, "You don't think she cares about you, too? You do know she's the reason you have sons right now, right?" Saix's stare turned into a cold, pointed glare. Yes, he damn well knew it. That was why he was currently hating himself for his cowardice toward Xaldin.

"You did not see the look of terror in her eyes as she looked at me," Saix explained as calmly as he could, "You did not see how frightened she was when she heard what I'd done. She would never have done this for me, and I don't blame her." Ryou looked at Victor, and then at Artemis. The latter had actually witnessed the event. And even though he was still angry, he had no intention of losing both parents to different darknesses: one to Xemnas, and the other to his own hatred. Artemis walked to his father and forced him to look at his son.

"She was willing to kill Xaldin," he reminded the older man, "As soon as she saw you, she rushed right into him, remember? She was willing to fight." Saix closed his eyes. Yes, he did remember she was willing to commit suicide to give him a chance, but what did it give her? Nothing but misery until he could find her. When Saix said this, Artemis smiled warmly and said, "Maybe this is where it begins, then."

"….?" Saix looked at his son questioningly, and Artemis just kept smiling, "What do you mean?" Artemis nodded to Ryou, and the younger man suddenly understood what was being said. This was a turning point in Sith's existence. If they could find her, she would be all right. And if Saix chose not to, she would simply die. Maybe this was how the future happened. Maybe Saix really rescued Sith.

"What if getting mother back is how you get your heart back?" Artemis asked him, and Saix began to see the point now, "Having a heart just means you care about things. If you care about mother, then you've already got your heart back." Saix nodded, but didn't look at anyone as he did so. He seemed to be thinking very deeply on those words. Nobodies had their personalities, so was it possible they had a portion of their hearts? He hadn't thought so, but that was beginning to change.

Saix realized that everyone was waiting for him to answer. He looked up, and saw that both Artemis and Victor were looking at him with expressions filled with hope. They wanted him to march in there and free Sith like the hero they thought he was. And he saw Ryou wanted him to make a choice. He also saw Axel and Katt were standing by the open portal, waiting for that same choice. And the others? Well, they either hated him or were grudgingly supporting him, but they were waiting, too. He took a deep breath. His pity party was over. He had sons who needed him, and he had a very good friend willing to take him right to Xemnas's face. He was going to do it.

"Will this portal truly take us to the World that Never Was?" he asked Axel, and the latter nodded, giving a grin that Ryou didn't like. Neither did Saix.

"If you're ready to go there, it will," the red-head replied easily, and Katt added, "But once we go, we can't leave. Xemnas knows we're going to go after him. He's collapsing portals right now as we speak." Ryou knew that if word got out that Sith was abducted, Bahamut himself would be forced to act. And there was still Rath to contend with. What would she do if her cousin was removed, as much as the two hated each other?

"Think we'd actually make it?" Jou asked, but Ryou shook his head. That wasn't a question to be asked, not when they had the only chance right there.

"It doesn't matter if we would or not. Are we willing to risk it to save Sith?" Ryou countered, and Jou's expression darkened with uncharacteristic seriousness. Ryou could see he was willing to do it. Many of them were. And those that weren't didn't speak up. There was no turning back anyway.

"Let's go before this Xemnas dude closes the portal," Honda nudged, and Ryou nodded. He didn't want to be the one to step through first – he thought Saix should take that honor! – but he found himself at the head of the line as he looked at the swirling mass of darkness before him. On the inside, he was scared. This was the first time he'd be traversing the darkness without Sith, without his closest friend. Who knew what was on the other side? Who knew if there _was_ an 'other side?'

Ryou took a breath and braced himself. Regardless of that, he had made a promise to help Sith. He'd failed it many times, but now was the time to really make an effort. Sith needed help; she could no longer handle this problem alone. Ryou touched Zerrkandr's hilt, and when he felt that warm pulse on his palm, he stepped through. The darkness awaited.

-(End Chapter)

When Saix left Sith to her fate, he never once thought he'd feel remorse for it. And now he quickly finds he has a heart, after all. With Artemis and Ryou to kick him in the ass, his self-appointed pity party comes to an abrupt halt. And when Axel and Katt come bearing a new scheme, Ryou finds himself entwined in it once again. But will they end up in the World that Never Was? Or will they fall into the voids forever? Find out next chapter, so click that Review button.


	11. Fight against the Heartless

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, Kingdom Hearts, Death Note, or Castlevania. I tried buying all the deeds, but apparently my good friend Lincoln didn't pull through.

It was a strange calm that passed over him as Ryou stepped into the portal of Darkness. He had never felt it before, and as he vanished through the wall, and into the swirling mass that slowly solidified into a narrow corridor, he knew he felt much more at ease than he should have. Maybe it was because he was with his friends, or maybe it was the part of him that wanted to make sure Sith was all right. He wasn't sure, but he knew that, as he walked through into the unknown, he felt a new strength that he had never known he possessed. He looked back only once to see if the others were with him; the hall stretched onward behind him as though he had been walking forever, but he did see that Malik was coming, and that Yugi and Anzu were not far away.

He didn't know how long it was before something in the corridor shifted. He couldn't tell how many steps he'd taken, or if he'd gone anywhere at all, but it felt as though, as soon as he turned from his friends, the corridor warped before his very eyes, and what looked like a very stable tunnel turned into a twisting, pulsing _thing_ of writhing shadows. Ryou froze, and felt Malik bump right into him. He didn't even hear the crack when Malik managed to fall over.

Instead, he was focused on the shadows all around them. They were squished together and terrifyingly deformed, blazing eyes staring from out of the voids beyond, all watching him. _Now_ he felt fear, and now he wished severely that Saix had not let Sith go. Then again, there was a chance Sith might've been paralyzed with fear, as well. Ryou couldn't be sure. He didn't even grasp what he was looking at.

"What _is_ that!" Anzu asked, but her voice seemed far away, watery. Ryou tried to look back, but Anzu was silhouetted in the red glow from the thousands of tiny eyes that watched them all. Every second that passed… well, more eyes kept appearing.

"_Anzu!_" Ryou screamed, and lunged, taking both Yugi and Anzu down just as a wispy tendril rose out of the darkness and swiped the air where Anzu's head had been. All three crashed into the ground.

"What the hell!" he heard Ryuuzaki scream, and then heard a clang as he saw Lunatic slice through the smoky wisp. Then he heard a gunshot, and knew at least two of his friends were fighting whatever it was that the corridor had become. He heard Ryuuzaki yell, "Get those four up! More of those wisps are forming!"

"What's happening!" Anzu asked, as Jou, Honda, and Victor quickly helped the three up, with Jou spinning to assist Malik. When they all stood, there was a huge tremor that nearly threw them all down again. They heard a thunderous crack, and Ryou actually shuttered.

"Heartless," Victor growled, and Ryou turned to see Saix and Artemis each slicing off a stretched-out heartless, that writhed on the ground before vanishing into thin air. Ryou twitched, though he no longer knew what the correlation was. Was he afraid or disgusted?

"Where do they come from?" Honda asked grimly, and watched as Ryuuzaki's laser pistol bounced off of one squirming creature, hitting the invisible floor they walked on, "And more importantly, how do we beat it?"

"Only enchanted weapons or magic can kill it," Victor reminded them. Honda cursed. They didn't have any of those – only Ryou and Saix did. He turned quickly to Ryou.

"You still have that sword Sith gave you?" he asked, and when Ryou nodded, he said, "Well, use it!" Ryou's body didn't want to move. He was too afraid of the heartless, of all those horrible, writhing, pulsing _things_. Was _this_ what Saix left Sith to face!

"Ryou!" Anzu called, but he didn't move. Malik tried to shake him, and still nothing. Frustrated, and now knowing only Saix and his two sons could fight this thing, he shook his head and tapped his foot.

"He's afraid!" Malik finally snapped angrily, and threw his hands up, "Dear lords of Ra, we're under attack and he's chosen to freeze up _now!_"

"Give him some credit. He's faced demons before," Jou reminded him, but that wasn't a good point to bring up. They faced demons only when _Sith_ was around to protect them. They no longer had her there, and now it came crashing down on them that they were very much mortals. And that these things they thought they could handle, they now saw they couldn't.

"Now's not a time to be cutting ourselves some slack, Jou," Malik replied sternly, and took the Millennium Rod from his belt, "I don't want to use this, but if it's magic we need, it's magic I'm going to bust out." He aimed the rod and let loose a thin beam of light. It cut a hole through one struggling heartless, who screeched in pain. That wail caused several others to shiver, and then fall from the massive congregation high above. Anzu promptly screamed; so did Miho and several others around them.

"_Shit!_" Ryuuzaki yelled, and fired another red beam that burned through two heartless that were about to devour Anzu. The third one was cut down by Artemis, who was wielding… Zealacht!

"We have to get out of here!" the half-Esper said quickly, "The entire corridor's collapsing! Xemnas knows we're coming!" The problem was that, as more and more heartless separated from the mass around them, the more terrified everyone was becoming. It seemed only Espers, Nobodies, and Ryuuzaki were immune to terror. Even Kaiba was now retreating from battle.

"God damn it! _FATHER!_" Artemis roared, turning just in time to see Saix slamming into one large beast, severing its body in two, "They're all frozen! They aren't listening!"

"Not surprising," Saix replied calmly, and then grunted as two small shadows clawed at his leg, "The darkness senses the weaknesses of our hearts. They'll continue to frighten everyone until they devour you all." He kicked one shadow, and it vanished. The other outright fled. Artemis spun Zealacht and dispatched several at once in a horizontal arc before turning to face his father fully. He saw Ryuuzaki instead; his father went after another group.

"What do we do!" Ryuuzaki demanded, and bashed one heartless with the butt of his pistol. It hissed, but a shot full in the face ended that horrible noise. Saix spilled several gallons of a thick, black liquid before responding. He turned when there was a slight break in the assault. The look in his eyes was deadly.

"Get them all out," he said, "I'm going to go berserk and kill the heartless…"

"_No_," Artemis said sternly, cutting his father off abruptly, "You're going to save mother." Saix wanted to glare at his son's insubordination, but he stopped himself. If he did go berserk, he might not even remember Sith while he slaughtered the heartless. He might not remember anything at all – save for his desire to kill everything. As much as he was annoyed, he knew Artemis was ultimately right. He sighed.

"Artemis… go," Saix told him, "I promise, I'll save your mother." Artemis didn't want to leave him, but he had to trust Saix. This was the man who raised him, in the future. Everything he learned about fighting and surviving in the ruins of their world was due to Saix. He owed it to him to at least obey. So, he nodded and turned.

"You'd better, or you'll regret it forever," Artemis said darkly, and then left Saix at that. He now faced a new problem; getting the frozen crowd out of the darkness and into the World that Never Was. Ryuuzaki and Victor were already busy trying to revive several others – so far, they had Jou, Honda, and Malik back up – and Katt was dueling alongside Axel to keep the heartless at bay for them. At this rate, they would be wiped out if he didn't do something.

He was exactly half of his mother and half of his father, and Artemis Winchester was grateful for that. He inherited his mother's magic and intelligence, and his father's strength, keen senses, and berserker rage. The moon may not have been in the corridor, but he knew it was _full_, and that was all he needed. Thanks to Sith's blood, he could tap into the moon from anywhere, and turn berserk, just like his father. If the others couldn't convince Ryou to move, he'd scare the boy into it. His eyes went completely yellow, and Artemis let out an earsplitting, heaven-rending howl that sent shivers down the spines of everything within the corridor. Including the heartless, Axel, and his own father.

It worked. As soon as Ryou heard that eerie shriek, his mind snapped away from the fear of the darkness, and came back to the fact that he had a very real Esper roaring at him to move. Eyes widening, and body once more reacting to his commands, Ryou spun toward where Ryuuzaki and Matt were shooting down heartless, and ran toward the others who were fleeing for the opening Axel created. Zerrkandr burst into light, and instinctively, Ryou drew it right as one heartless landed and screeched at him. Zerrkandr sliced right through, and Ryou was barely caught in the spray of black mist before he spun and destroyed another heartless that appeared right next to Yugi, who'd been trying unsuccessfully to defend himself. Their eyes locked for a minute.

"Where did you get that sword, anyway!" Yugi asked in awe, knowing that the only other sword like it was Sith's. Ryou gave him a mysterious smile. It'd been six long, warped years since he had the sword, but he could never forget how he acquired it.

"Sith gave it to me," he replied, and Yugi yelped when a heartless swooped down at him. Ryou deflected the attack… and the blade merely sliced the heartless in half! Mist sprayed across both of them. For a long moment, they both stood staring at the arc of dark liquid. Then, Yugi shook his head.

"Leave it to Sith…" he said, but he didn't finish the sentence. He didn't need to. They both knew that if anyone had a weapon to slice through darkness, it would have been Sith. Instead, they turned back to the portal. Axel was now struggling to keep it open, and the last ones through it were Ryuuzaki and Katt; the others must have gone through.

"Guys, hurry it up! I can't keep the damn thing open forever!" Axel called, and that only confirmed that the others had gone through. Well, save for Saix, but he'd escape later.

Without a word but with mutual agreement, both boys sped toward that burst of light and leapt right through. The light blinded them, and muffled the noise of battle far behind, but Ryou knew Yugi was with him, and that Axel was close behind. Before long, the light began to fade, and Ryou felt himself step out of the long, oppressive hallway into a place… almost equally depressing. Confused, Ryou opened his eyes.

They were in a dark alley, the road beneath them damp with a previous rain. Ryou knew it was a city, and knew it _wasn't_ relatively far from his own era, simply because on either side of him were two very large buildings with pulsing lights, and he could hear machinery some distance away. It took a minute for his vision to fully adapt to the darkness, but when it did, he ignored the buildings and looked around for further sign of what time they were in. There was very little to help him; there were no garbage containers, and the walls were simply too high to see anything else. But he was _somewhere_.

Taking a few steps from where they had come out, Ryou and Yugi went down the narrow path between the two buildings. It opened up into a wider street, and dim light spilled from a few streetlamps dotting the road. There were many signs pointing to food, marketing, and clothing establishments, and he saw there were many apartments and shops around. But there was absolutely no one on the street. No one except himself and his friends.

"Did everyone make it through?" he asked, when he saw Kaiba standing in the road, trying to get the same general sense of surroundings Ryou wanted. Kaiba turned only partly, and he nodded.

"We got through fine, but we have no idea where this place is," was the frustrated reply, "Ryuuzaki and Basch went ahead to see if there were heartless waiting for us, and the others just scattered like morons." That sounded harsh, but Ryou understood that Kaiba was simply worried for their sakes. He had a right to be so! If this was actually the world Axel intended to take them to, there were enemies everywhere.

"What's your take on it?" Yugi asked, and at this, Kaiba snorted.

"My take?" he repeated almost scornfully, "I want to go home. I want to go and know my house isn't torn up because Sith's been taken hostage. Gods know that shit will happen when the other Espers find out she's missing." He hadn't expected Ryou to be surprised, but he found the boy's mouth dropped a bit. It was almost disconcerting.

"Do you think they'd come and do something?" Ryou almost whispered. Kaiba's anger vanished. Now he was worried. Ryou should've been the first to know they would have.

"Ryou, haven't you been paying any attention these past few years?" Kaiba asked him, "These Mystics are after _Sith_, and _Sith_ is the reason they're even alive. Sith, for all intense and purpose, was the catalyst for whatever happened in that sealed memory. Don't tell me you don't think she's that important."

"But if she's the cause, wouldn't they be happy for her to be dead?" Yugi asked, and this time, Ryou shook his head.

"No. That would mean Rath would have complete control over Oblivion," Ryou replied darkly, and when Kaiba's brow rose, he said, "That seal on the memory… when Sith and I went to find a way out, we ran into Bakura – the past Bakura. He told us Sith went missing, and assumed _our_ Sith was the Sith in that memory.

"And that's because she _is_," Ryou continued, and Kaiba's skeptical look did not diminish, "I'm not sure what magic this is, but Rath is unraveling time as we speak. Sith went 'missing' because Rath must have already erased Sith from time before the war between them was even fought." Oh _shit_. Kaiba understood what that meant now, and why Saix was so angry with himself. He wasn't a stupid man, and he knew that he just threw away not only his wife, but the future of every world that had been spared Rath's insanity.

"So basically we need to find her before she either gets killed, or before our world gets chunked during this war," Kaiba concluded, and Ryou could only nod. As if that weren't pressure enough, they'd have to kill Rath, and get through Xemnas to do it. And _without_ Sith, that seemed slim even with Saix and Axel. There was always the chance Xemnas would merely kill her.

"Does anyone have any idea how much time we have before that happens?" Ryou hadn't noticed Ryuuzaki and Basch had returned, but he knew now, and he turned to face them. Along with Anzu, Jou, Katt, and Matt. Ryou's mouth slanted. If he could give them an answer, he gladly would have.

"Any luck figuring out where we are?" Kaiba asked the duelist, and Ryuuzaki shook his head. The eerie silence around them was broken only by a single leaf crackling in the wind. Ryou felt himself shiver, even though it wasn't cold.

"There's no one in sight," Katt said quietly, "Everything is locked, and anything that might have helped must have fled." Looking down the desolate road, Ryou could only agree. They were in a ghost town.

"That's probably because Xemnas recalled all of the dusks in this place," Axel replied, and came out just behind Ryou, "This is the City that Never Was. The only things we'd find here are Nobodies and heartless, and Xemnas probably either eliminated or took them all." No doubt they'd be facing them soon enough, then. Ryou frowned. The only good news was that Sith had to be alive for this much to be done. Xemnas wouldn't waste time protecting a corpse.

"Where do you think they're keeping her?" Jou asked, and Axel pointed. They followed his direction, and saw, very far away, a white castle floating in the sky. Amidst the darkness and the dim, gray buildings all around them, it stood out in stark contrast. And above it was a giant, yellow heart. It looked almost too comical.

"What _is_ that!" Basch gasped, eyes widening. He could've been talking about the castle, but they all knew he meant that giant, floating heart in the sky. It was practically glowing, but despite its shape, Ryou felt no love from it. He instead felt an emptiness quite fitting for the world they were in.

"Kingdom Hearts," Axel explained softly, "The goal of Organization XIII. It's not complete yet, but with more hearts…" Ryou understood. With more hearts, it would be. Powerful hearts, hearts like the one Sith did have.

"So they're holding her in that heart?" Ryuuzaki asked, but Axel shook his head. His finger lowered fractionally toward the castle below.

"In the Castle that Never Was," he corrected, "But whether she still has her heart is questionable." Ryou, and everyone else, suddenly snapped around to look at him, stunned. Just what in the seven levels of hell did that imply!

"Are you saying she doesn't have her heart!" Matt demanded, as Katt said, "What have they done with my sister!" A normal person would've been shocked by the anger coming their way, but Axel merely shrugged and stepped into the street. He turned to face the group. He had never seen such a mix of anger and confusion in his life.

"I'm not saying anything at all," he replied casually, "But Xemnas will not wait forever. He took Sith with one purpose in mind: to make a powerful Nobody." For all they knew, the madman succeeded, too. Ryuuzaki shook his head in disbelief. He couldn't let that happen. As a friend and as a fledgling cop, he couldn't let Sith's life be taken from her.

"We have to get the old bat out of there!" he exclaimed, but it did nothing to suggest just how they'd manage that. As it was, they didn't even know how to get _inside_ the castle, let alone find Sith and help her escape.

"And how're you going to get inside a floating fortress?" Axel asked, amused. Ryuuzaki turned and glared. Sure, he had no ideas, but he also didn't need a smug asshole reminding him of how over his head this was.

"Can't you make another portal and take us there?" Anzu asked, but surprisingly, Axel shook his head. At least, it was surprising for her. But Ryou expected it, and he expected the ensuing answer, as well.

"They're being awfully cautious up there. I can't connect to any corridor leading inside the castle," Axel informed her, and looked at Ryou, "There are other ways inside, but I sure as hell don't want to take 'em." Right now, though, both of them knew that damn well didn't matter. If the world collapsed because of Sith's death, there'd be no hearts to collect.

"Take them anyway," Ryou said threateningly – as threateningly as he could with Zerrkandr raised. Axel's brows rose, almost surprised and a little amused that such a weak-willed boy was actually challenging him. Then again, they were all in trouble right now, and the pressure would cause anyone to crack and lash out.

Yet when he looked in Ryou's eyes, and truly looked, he didn't see the scared, little shit he saw when they were just about ready to storm Kefka's Keep, four months beforehand. He did see fear, and warranted fear at that, but Ryou was different somehow, different in a way he didn't quite understand. It had something to do with what was happening, somehow connected to his dear friend, but Axel wasn't sure what was going on. And because he felt no need to actually test Ryou's will, he nodded and said, "There is one way directly to the front gates, but it's going to be guarded.

"It's called the Brink of Despair," Axel finished, when no one said anything about his implication, and Ryou felt it was a fitting title considering where they were, "Unless Xemnas found a way to close it up, the bridge should still be there." Yami, Bakura, and Ishtar all exchanged glances, and Ryou had a feeling at least one of them knew what was coming. Yami's lips thinned.

"When you say guarded, what are we facing first?" he asked Axel, "Heartless? Or Nobodies?"

"Both, unless there's some reason Xemnas is skimping out on obstacles," came the amused reply. Ryou didn't think that was a reason to be amused, but obviously Axel wasn't taking this threat seriously. Or perhaps he was taking it too seriously, depending on who was looking at it. Bakura audibly cursed.

"So which side do we crush first?" he asked them all grimly, "I don't think it's a smart idea to try fighting both sides at once." The problem was, they wouldn't know which side was attacking until they reached the bridge. It didn't matter what answer they gave him.

Looking again toward the floating castle, and the eerily shining heart above it, Ryou took a deep breath and said, "Axel, lead us toward the castle." Axel just gave him an encouraging grin. Then, he turned down the main street and ran. Everyone else followed close behind, not wanting to attract anything that wasn't one of them.

Ryou was impressed with the number of buildings that were present in a world that was made of nothing. As they ran down the endless streets and turned through endless corners, he looked up continuously only to find one more neon sign, or one more bulletin board, or one more imposing skyscraper that poked through that unholy darkness above them. He was impressed with the fact that Nobodies could build such structure in the face of chaos, and that Xemnas was keeping each and every one in check.

He was impressed by the fact that, through the vast number of buildings and vending machines, and vehicles, there was not a single soul in sight. Despite the onslaught they'd had back in the corridor of Darkness, it was as if everything had been spent trying to keep them from coming to this world, with no reinforcement if they failed. Ryou finally had to stop and shiver, when he realized it.

_Or perhaps Xemnas just wanted Saix out of the way_, came a voice that Ryou recognized. His eyes widened and he looked around, but Sith was nowhere to be seen. Just her voice, and it seemed so distant and far away. His look went to that accursed castle.

"Sith?" he called, but nothing more came from her. At least, not for a long moment. Ryou didn't even notice that Malik had stopped, or that he had been the only one who had.

…_where is Saix?_ Ryou frowned. He had never heard her sound so scared before. Nor had he ever heard that tone in her voice, of _needing_ someone to be there. Damn it, if Xemnas hurt her in any way, someone was going to die.

"Ryou, what's wrong?" Malik asked, when Ryou's brows creased as he looked at the heart. They had a little bit of time, but who knew what they were doing to extract her heart! Saix implied viciousness when he spoke of Xaldin. Was Sith hurt?

"Sith, I promise Saix is coming," he whispered, and clutched Zerrkandr's hilt a bit tighter. He let out a breath. Then another.

…_Saix… where… where is Saix?_ Ryou could feel the tears Sith wasn't shedding every time her mind asked that question. He cursed Xemnas every time he heard it, even if she wasn't saying it. Quietly, he turned to Malik.

"She doesn't have much time, Malik. Whatever they're doing, it's going to break her soon," he said grimly, and Malik seemed to understand what wasn't said. Malik took a very deep breath, one that said he'd seen this too many times. Perhaps with what he'd done to form the Rare Hunters, he had.

"What does she keep asking?" Malik asked him, and though it seemed an odd question, Ryou knew the answer was important. So, too, was the reason for that answer.

"She wants to know where Saix is," Ryou replied, "He was her bodyguard while she traveled back and forth with intelligence and tactics for Organization XIII. When they were actually working with her."

"They're playing on the future we went to," Malik growled, and Ryou nodded, "I know what they're doing. Ryou, they've got to be threatening him. Probably telling her they knew what would happen all along. Maybe they did. Maybe that's why he was appointed in the first place." That'd make sense, except that Sith would've found out. Ryou just shook his head. This was becoming less and less realistic.

"Either way, we've got to break in there soon. Whatever they're saying, I can hear it in her mind. She's losing it," Ryou told him, and Malik looked away, "I know. You thought she'd be stronger than this." But that wasn't the case. Malik didn't expect anything from Sith, other than to _be Sith_. She might have been an Esper, but she still had her heart. And right now, her heart wanted what neither Ryou nor Mello could truthfully give her.

"Actually, I'm hoping Saix gets his ass out of that tunnel and saves her before we have to," Malik said, and Ryou felt his mouth drop, "I've been listening to Artemis and Victor. Ryou, I think this would've happened even without them."

"You… you do?"

"Think about it. Xemnas wanted Sith's help so he could obtain the darkness Falnika would've left behind when Sith killed her. Didn't work out. So, what can he do? He can't go after Rath, because she's too powerful and too mad to let him get close," Malik explained, "But Sith? Sith's still sane. And Saix? You know his reaction to her. Gets all snarly and mean when she's around, but snarls at anyone who says anything about her, too.

"So, you've got an Esper and a Nobody who are both so blindingly damaged by their pasts that they don't know what they want, but they care about each other even if they hate each other all the same," Malik went on, "Xemnas had all the ammunition he needed to get the power he wanted. Abduct Sith and break her heart by either killing Saix or forcing him to break it for them."

"Then… then you mean…"

"Saix has more on his shoulders than marriage, Ryou," Malik told him, and Ryou felt a drastic reduction in temperature, "This was _fated_ to happen, and you know I don't say that often. Literally, Saix's decision will either save the world, or destroy it. If Sith's turned into a Nobody, imagine the darkness she could spread." Imagine if Xemnas made her the queen of this world, too. Rath would look small in comparison. Ryou felt a shudder as he considered this.

"What are our options if we're too late?" Ryou whispered. Malik's frown told him enough. There were hardly any except to kill Sith and then try and kill Rath. Or die.

"We're either going to have to save Oblivion ourselves, or dig ourselves a deep, deep grave, friend," Malik replied grimly, and sighed, looking at the heart, "We could try asking Falnika, but we can't possibly make it to Pinnacle's Core before Oblivion starts collapsing. But maybe she has an idea to counter this." Ryou doubted she would, since the Mystic in question was imprisoned before this threat was even conceived. But it was worth a shot, when they needed it.

"If we're going to do anything, we'd better move while we think," Ryou said, finally noticing that the others weren't with them. They must've stopped far longer than he imagined. Malik agreed, and they walked down three blocks before Ryou asked, "You think I might be able to speak to Sith?" Malik glanced at them just before catching sight of Anzu far ahead.

"What do you mean?" was the wary reply.

"I heard Sith's voice in my mind. Espers can use telepathy when they need to, but do you think it works vice versa?" Ryou suggested. Malik thought about it as they went up a sloping hill, and stopped when they got a good view of the bottom, where the buildings seemed to get slightly smaller, and more condensed. The castle was closer, and they were heading into a residential district.

"I hate to say it, Ryou, but you're human," Malik finally reminded him, and it felt like a punch in the gut. But Ryou already knew that answer was coming. His power had been fading ever since Sith's departure in the first place, and his power wasn't strong to begin with.

"Then let's hope we can get Katt to do it, because we need to talk to Sith and see how bad it is," Ryou said grimly. They both looked down the road. Katt was currently speaking with Ryuuzaki and Axel, trying to come up with a strategy when they infiltrated the castle. Taking a breath, Ryou walked down to join them.

Katt had agreed to try it, and it worked better than Ryou thought. Sith's sanity was growing thin, but she had enough of it to recognize her own sister, and she told Katt clearly that she was locked away in the Soundless Prison beneath the castle. Since Axel knew where that was, as soon as he heard, he had the others running behind him toward the furthest district into the city. He also had something else up his sleeve, too; as soon as they left the buildings and came to a courtyard, Zexion was waiting for them.

He looked grim. Ryou was growing apprehensive when he first saw the cloaked figure from afar, but when they came close enough to identify the young Nobody, he now grew concerned. Zexion's face was tight, and his usual youthful appearance seemed to be slipping away now with the worry scribbled over his features. They all came to a slow stop, and many stood aside to let Axel, Katt, and Ryou through.

"They know?" Axel asked darkly, and Zexion shook his head.

"Not yet, but we've little time," the younger Nobody informed him, "I have Demyx watching her in the prison, so she'll be safe until they switch him out. Then, we might have some trouble."

"Why? Who's on deck for guard duty?" Axel asked, and Zexion took a deep breath. Slowly, he exhaled.

"Xaldin," he said, and Axel cursed. Damn it all to the Esper gods, Xaldin was going to kill her. Axel looked from Zexion, to Ryou, and then to Katt. No one was particularly surprised that Zexion couldn't keep her entirely safe, but they had at least two hours to find her and free her.

"How big is the castle?" Ryou asked them, and found three pairs of eyes staring at him, "How hard is it to get down to where Sith is?" Zexion scoffed, and it came out more as an insulting snort.

"We have Heartless and Dusks swarming the place, waiting for you all to come," Zexion told them, and saw more than a few people shiver, "We also have Dragoon and Sniper Nobodies waiting to plunge into us, and we'll probably run into at least one of our own who wants Sith dead." Ryou could tell that a lot of his friends were reconsidering being on the battlefield. He didn't blame them.

Gulping, he asked, "And who exactly wants Sith dead?" Zexion grinned a bit.

"Xaldin, for one, believes she is nothing more than a threat," he replied, "Marluxia wants her power, and Xemnas wants her heart. Xigbar's on Xaldin's side, even though he admits he doesn't hate Sith for what's happening."

"But the others are all right with Saix leaving?" Ryou asked. Four out of twelve possible opponents wasn't as bad as he thought. Then Axel's reality had to crush that small hope.

"Ryou, it doesn't matter who wants a happy ending here," he said bluntly, "We're going to be facing _Xaldin_, and he's about as strong as Saix. Alone, he'll probably kill almost all of us before we even knock him down." Ryou remembered that it took Sith, Artemis, and Saix to restrain Xaldin, back in the sealed memory. With two of them gone, Xaldin really would slaughter them. Trembling a bit, he looked at Zexion.

"Tell me you have a plan to get us down there," he said. It wasn't a question. Zexion nodded, and turned toward the crystalline bridge that connected the courtyard to the floating castle. Ryou could see from here that the drop, should the bridge fall, would kill everyone except for Artemis and Victor.

"Lexaeus is trying to convince Xemnas to let him take next watch over Sith," the young Nobody said seriously, and glanced as Ryou joined him at the bridge's start, "That will give us another three hours to find her. As to getting down there…"

"Leave that problem to me, kiddo," came a voice, and Ryou spun sharply. Only to come face-to-face with Xigbar himself. Ryou screamed. But that didn't seem to register on Xigbar's mind, because he simply shrugged and said, "What?"

"Xigbar, what the hell are you doing here!" Axel demanded, and for once, any amusement he had was just gone. Ryou stopped screaming long enough to see that neither he nor Zexion were particularly happy to see their supposed fellow teammate. Then again, Xigbar was one of the ones who wanted Sith dead. So… what _was_ he doing there?

"I'm helping you guys, that's what," the older Nobody replied simply, and looked around to see if his help was even wanted or not. He found over ten pairs of eyes glaring at him, and was surprised that at least half were armed in some way. There were _not_ odds he wanted to face, even if he could just disappear in a second. Ryuuzaki in particular was aimed to shoot his head off in that second, should it come.

"According to your friends here, you _want_ Sith to turn into one of you freaks! Why should we believe you!" Ryuuzaki barked harshly, and didn't lower his pistol at all. Xigbar's brow rose. If Ryou didn't know better, he'd say this was probably news to the Nobody as well.

"As if! Sith turns into a Nobody, and we're fucked for eternity!" Xigbar exclaimed, and when he saw how his statement shocked them all, he laughed, "Oh, come on! You think we're _blind?_ Half of us are afraid of Xemnas." Ryuuzaki narrowed his eyes, but he couldn't quite decide if he should shoot Xigbar, or hear the man out. After all, Zexion had said Xigbar was on Xaldin's side in this. But acting out of fear of Xemnas made more sense. He lowered his gun barely a fraction.

"And the other half?" he asked, when several seconds passed and no one else spoke.

"We're willing to turn a blind eye and let this little explosion occur," Xigbar said mischievously. Ryuuzaki grunted a bit, and turned toward the others. He needed some opinions before he just let this moron lead them into what could be a very dangerous trap. But the only ones who could help him were Ryou, Katt, Malik, and the three spirits; no one else seemed to understand enough to be of much help. Malik and Ryou exchanged glances, and the three spirits nodded stiffly. They wanted to hear – but they were still aware that Sith's life was becoming shorter with each second they wasted. Ryuuzaki took a deep breath, and turned back to Xigbar.

"You've got five seconds before I blow your brains out," he stated grimly, and his lips grew thin, "You get our asses to Sith _now_, or I'm taking you out."

"I would _love_ to see you try that," Xigbar replied sarcastically, and a twitch of his wrist tore another rift in the air. It was similar to a portal of darkness… yet somehow, it felt completely… natural, as though it were a black hole, and not formed from magic. Ryou had a feeling _something_ really _would_ be blown apart. He just couldn't guarantee it wouldn't be his own side that'd take the hit.

-(End Chapter)

Now that they're literally feet away from the depths that keep Sith on the brink of darkness, Ryou and the others find one more surprise: Xigbar seemingly changed sides to help them out. But his intention is to literally bring them right to Sith's cell, and that means they could find themselves surrounded on all sides with Nobodies – and this time, it'll be more than twelve potential opponents. But does Xemnas even know that Xigbar is going to help them? Or does Sith have the ability to keep him at bay? Find out next chapter, so click that Review button!


	12. The World that Never Was

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, Kingdom Hearts, or Death Note. This time, I tried to just steal the deeds to everything, but apparently I just committed grand larceny. Who knew _paper_ was worth that much money? Apparently, _I_ didn't.

At first, Ryou was sure whatever Xigbar had done was meant to be a threat. After all, he was facing a whole group of enemies at once, as well as three swords, one staff imbued with magic, one book infused with power Ryou couldn't even guess, three guns, two chakrams, one rocket-launcher, and three Espers who were related to Sith in some way. Overall, that was a rather impressive array of weapons considering how small the group of _combatants_ were – only half of Ryou's team was actually armed. And considering again that Saix was hopefully a step behind them, _and_ that _two_ of those three Espers were _also_ related to him, Xigbar was severely outmatched.

Yet, when Xigbar turned to face that rift in the air, he didn't do anything else. He didn't command it to grow and swallow them up in its depth. He didn't draw his own weapon and release fire. Hell, he didn't even slip through and close it back up, leaving them just as confused as when he first appeared. He simply stared at it, and glanced back at them. At _Ryou_, more specifically. Ryou looked back at Malik and Katt, who were the closest to him at that point. They both seemed to nod with the understanding that he was expected to go first. He just sighed. Didn't Sith say that he wasn't even part of her future? Of course, _that_ had been said in private, but still…

"Are you coming, or do I have to push you dudes through it?" Xigbar asked almost impatiently, and that seemed to snap Ryou out of his frustration. Sith wouldn't have hesitated to take the reins for him, and he shouldn't be hesitating to go and save her. He nodded once, and walked forward until he was just inches from the rift. He glanced sideways at Xigbar.

"And this will take us directly to Sith?" he inquired, hoping that was so clear that there'd be no mistake in answer. Xigbar grinned just a bit too easily for comfort.

"If it doesn't, it'll at least take us inside the castle, and that's good enough for me," came the almost apathetic reply. Ryou heard a click, and knew either Ryuuzaki or Matt had their weapon locked and aimed.

"But it sure as hell isn't good enough for _us!_" Matt growled furiously, and Xigbar just snorted, "Hey, you laugh at me again and I'll cause a _new_ rift that'll _demolish_ your stupid world!" Miho and Anzu, who had both seemed to be using Matt as some sort of defensive shield, seemed to just stare at him as though he just said the most idiotic dribble they'd ever heard. It was more or less the truth, too.

"Wouldn't that just keep us from saving Sith?" Miho asked him, and this time, Xigbar flat-out flew into hysterics. Not only would that kill all of them as well as Sith, it'd wipe out several corridors that connected several worlds, and it'd give Rath no reason _not_ to destroy the rest of Oblivion. Matt was obviously being an idiot.

"And you'd be pissing off all those Espers who're vouching for her victory, too," Xigbar pointed out, and the truth of it stung them all, "So, you ready to trust me, or are you going to keep prolonging Sith's despair?" Ryou's fists clenched. Sith didn't deserve to suffer at all. She'd done enough of that in her life as it was. Without a word, he walked right through the rift and disappeared. Shortly after, he was followed by Malik, Katt, and the others – those most loyal to Sith were faster about it, too.

Save, of course, for Ryuuzaki. He was last _only_ to ensure that Xigbar didn't backstab them. He stalked to the portal slowly, almost predatorily, his eyes never leaving Xigbar. Though he wouldn't admit it openly, he was probably the most loyal to getting Sith back, save for her own sons and for Saix. And it wasn't because she was his friend – it was because she was _Sith_. Even if she had caused this mess in the past, it had been inadvertent, and she had done what she could to minimize the damage. Everything they had, from the relative peace to the mere knowledge of that danger, was due to her effort. They had a good world. They had a good Esper. And they had a damn good friend. Ryuuzaki, as both her friend and a protector of Esper law, would do his best to keep all three.

"If I find out you're lying, I will hunt you down and make sure your corpse eats silver bullets," he snarled, when he was side-by-side with the older Nobody, "Most of us are human, but we're still Sith's guardians and we love her to death. You take her heart out, we'll crush that huge heart of yours into pieces." Then, he stormed through the portal. Xigbar was about to go through, but stopped himself and watched a moment longer. Then, he shook his head.

"First there was just Aeon and Mello. Then we had Matt, Bakura, and Basch join the fray, too," Xigbar mused, and looked up toward the castle, looming high above, "Now Ryuuzaki's joined the court, and Saix is coming back, too. Damn it, if Sith manages to escape and kill Rath, she's going to have one hell of a court to rule her kingdom with. And all of them are going to be snarly, possessive men. Wonderful." Then, he just laughed. He really did want to see her court go up against Xemnas. And the only way to do that was to go right through the portal and save her sorry ass. He did just that.

Xigbar had been right. Ryou had stepped through and expected to wind up on the very edges of Oblivion, where anything could be waiting to devour him. Instead, he wound up in a large chamber made of stark white chrome. At first, the reflected light hurt his eyes. But when he recovered enough, he dared to look around. There were no Nobodies waiting for them, and no Heartless to be slain. There was, seemingly, nothing at all.

Letting out a breath, he took a step forward. And he halted when neither his breath nor his shoes made a single sound. Katt, who had come in second, crashed into him, but it sounded muffled and it barely hurt him. Now he understood why this was called the Soundless Prison. And he also understood why Sith's voice had been so clear.

But as he looked around to find her cell, he realized he couldn't actually _see_ her. He did see there were small cells grafted into the metallic walls, but there appeared to be nothing within them. Now he was worried again. What if they were too late?

"Sith!" he called, and felt a gloved hand clamp his mouth shut. He knew better than to struggled.

"You're going to wake Demyx up!" Axel hissed, and he genuinely looked a little pissed off, "Sith's probably doing the smart thing and hiding. So you be smart and shut up." Ryou didn't like the harshness, but he knew he'd feel far worse if his ignorance put Sith in even further danger. But, from what he could see, there weren't many places for Sith to hide. Where in hell was she?

"All right, we're in. You'd better tell us where Sith's _hiding_," Ryou heard Matt growl, low enough to not disturb the sleeping Nobody in the seat toward the back, but enough for Axel to hear him. Axel glanced over, and would've snorted if he knew it wouldn't start a fight.

"You expect me to know? She's an Esper, for all I know, she's right in front of us," the red-headed Nobody replied just as quietly. Ryou heard a derisive snort, and didn't know who it came from. Until, of course, he heard their voice.

"Not quite, but close enough," Sith whispered, and more than a few people jumped. Ryou and Axel both turned. Sith was sitting on what had been an empty bed – only her head was visible, and Ryou guessed either she was using magic, or she was using some sort of enchanted piece of clothing. But from what he saw, her hair was messy and her glasses were gone. Perhaps she'd been in a fight on her way down here. At least she wasn't injured… yet.

"Sith! Are you all right?" Anzu asked her, and Sith motioned for her to quiet down. Tiptoeing, everyone who could fit went to the door to her cell, crowding around to both hear her and shield her words from Demyx. She gave them a sardonic grin.

"Define _all right_," she said sarcastically, and then sighed slowly, "I'll be fine. They haven't done anything yet, but you couldn't have come at a better time. When that idiot's shift is up, Xaldin will be down here. Who knows what he'll do." Ryou nodded, and his eyes told her clearly this wasn't news to him.

"Sith, we're going to break you out right now," he said, but surprisingly, Sith shook her head.

"Don't even try. Xemnas sealed the lock himself. You touch it, and Nobodies will come bursting through those doors faster than you can say _die_," she explained grimly, her voice sounding still raspy and deeper than it should, "There are keys, but which ones hold them is something I don't know." Ryou looked down at the lock. It looked simple enough. Which was exactly why Xemnas chose it – to fool them all.

"You think Demyx has one of those keys?" Jou asked her, but Sith shook her head forcefully.

"He isn't responsible enough to hold one," she replied, "But I bet Xaldin _does_, and I know Xemnas has one." Neither of them would be willing to part with it, either. Ryou looked at Zexion. He was, after all, one of the top six members. If anyone would know how to break the lock, it had to be him.

"Can _you_ do anything about this?" Ryou asked him, almost pleading. Zexion's face softened a fraction, and he almost looked sad.

"Xemnas is far stronger than I. I severely doubt I have anything to break this," the young Nobody informed him, and shook his head, "I can try to convince Xemnas to give me a key, but…"

"You do that and I guarantee you'll be killed on the spot," Sith snapped, and Zexion stared at her. She snorted, and her face contorted into a mixture of amusement and disgust, "I heard those two talking. They are aware you and Axel were missing for several hours." Shit. Then they probably expected Zexion to come to them.

"Sith, you've been conscious since you were abducted," Ryuuzaki stated sternly, and the two looked at each other, "You must know something we don't. Tell us what you think we should do, and we'll just do it." Sith smiled wryly. The truth was, she had as much an idea as he did. Could she say that to him, though?

"What _I_ think?" she repeated, brow raised, "Well, I _think_ I'd like to shove my sword up Xaldin's arse. But if you mean what to do about the lock, I'm as much at a standstill as all of you." She looked around at the sparse chamber, eyes narrowed in thought. There was a small chance there _was_ a key here, but it might not be worth the time to search. The desk in the corner, hidden by the shadows, might be trapped, too.

Then her eyes fell on the snoring figure of Demyx. Ryou knew that look of thought when he saw it, and he turned, too. Demyx hadn't even stirred. Sith grinned, and looked up at Axel. He, of course, couldn't begin to guess what she was thinking.

"Could we coerce Demyx into doing what we say?" she asked slyly, and Axel's mouth dropped open. Assaulting a fellow member was a crime Xemnas would not forgive, ever. He shook his head.

"Absolutely not! We do that, he's going to run and tell them all we're here!" he almost yelled, and it was only Sith's venomous glare that reminded him of where they were. He lowered his voice, "Sith, assault is a crime worse than what Saix has done."

"Considering that Saix has done _nothing_, I'd imagine it is," Sith growled furiously, and Axel decided to not bring him up again, "Besides, I never said 'hurt him.' We can coerce with words alone. Give me my sword, and you'll see." Ryou's eyes widened. He wasn't sure how a _sword_ constituted as a use of words, but Artemis was willing to obey his mother. He handed her the sword in question. Their eyes locked for a moment, and Artemis saw the pain etched in Sith. It was buried, but it was still there and burning bright.

"Mother, father's on his way," Artemis said quietly, almost childishly. Sith nodded.

"I know this, little one," she replied, and turned toward where Demyx was snoozing, "_Get UP!_" With that, she slammed the blade so hard against the metal bars that it made a thunderous crack that terrified everyone in the room. Demyx included, who yelped and fell right out of his seat. He looked up. Sith was fully visible now, and with Zealacht in her hands and her blood-stained coat still on her, she was a horror to behold indeed.

"Y-you…" Demyx stammered, and saw just how many people were in the room with him, "A-all of you! You're not supposed to be…"

"Shut up," Sith snapped, and Demyx did just that, "You will do what we say or I'll skewer you and let Xaldin see what a failure you are." Ryou wasn't sure this was what any of them truly had in mind, but that threat did its job. Demyx's face paled until only his blue eyes were the main source of color on it. He shook his head quickly.

"N-no, don't do that! I'll do what you say, just not that!" he screamed, and Ryou wasn't sure whether it was her words or her sword that scared the poor guy more. Sith's cruel expression softened, and she lowered her blade. That was truly all she wanted to hear.

"You will get us a key to get me out of this cell," she said gently, and Demyx looked even more frightened than before. That'd involve dealing with Xaldin, and he _knew_ he would never survive it.

"What! Are you crazy!" he blurted out, and that rage returned to Sith's eyes in full. She slammed her sword on the bars, and they thundered again. Demyx cowered, and then remembered she couldn't hit him. That was, until she managed to break the bars herself.

"I never said dealing with Xaldin, you incompetent twit," Sith growled in frustration, and Demyx relaxed just a little bit, "All you need to do is get a key and get me out, and I won't hurt you when this is said and done." Demyx thought about that. He _could_ sneak into Xemnas's office and just steal one. Or he could ask Xigbar to do it, too. Then, he looked at Sith more carefully. If he did this, she'd escape and their plans would fall away.

"Wait… why should I help you escape? We need your heart," he replied earnestly, and Sith found it hard not to want to strangle him for his needless questioning. As far as she was concerned, the second she was a Heartless, they were all going to die anyway.

"Has it occurred to you that I'd turn right against you and just kill you all?" she asked seriously, and in truth, it hadn't. Not to Demyx. Now he understood the ultimatum; either he get that key, or he dies a terrible, claw-rending death at the hands of Sith. He gulped. And he looked to Axel and Zexion for some level of support.

Support, of which, wasn't even there. Axel just looked down at him as though he wanted the little Nobody to curl up and die, and Zexion just shook his head with the clear thought of 'do what she said.' Demyx had a feeling that if he didn't comply, he wouldn't live to tell of it. He rubbed the back of his neck.

"Fine. I'll go and get one of the keys," he said with a sigh, "You know, I never wanted Saix dead or for you to get hurt, Sith. I kind of wondered… if maybe there was a new way to get a heart." He looked back at Sith, and for once, he didn't look lazy or tired, or anything that normally qualified as a normal Demyx expression. He looked… serious. Sith's lips thinned. She had no idea what to say.

"Get that key and you'll find out," she said quietly, and turned away. Demyx was already gone when Ryou looked from her, to where he'd been standing.

They waited for nearly fifteen minutes before anyone else spoke again. Sith had kept herself from looking at anyone in that time, and Ryou had a distinct feeling she did not want anyone to read whatever she was feeling. She hid it well enough – even he couldn't guess what her true emotion regarding any of this even was. Maybe she had more heart than she thought, or maybe she had more lack of it, and didn't want him to know.

Whatever it was, after a while, the others all began to get restless and worried. Ryuuzaki had been pacing in front of the only exit out of the prison, his trigger-finger twitchy and his pistol in his hand the entire time. Basch had stayed near the high window, looking up occasionally to deflect any Heartless that'd slip inside. And the others either sat where they were and remained silent, or murmured to each other about what could possibly foil them soon. Finally, though, Kaiba had had enough waiting. They had found Sith. Why weren't they _doing_ anything about her?

"Are we seriously going to wait for that idiot to come back?" he finally asked, looking at Ryou, "Tell me we can do something. Tell me Sith can blow the cell door off." Ryou looked at Victor and Artemis, who had stayed near their mother's cell silently the entire time. He knew both of them were waiting for Saix to come back and free her like he should have. Not one of the three Espers could look at him.

"I don't think we should ask," Ryou said, and Kaiba grunted as he turned to Victor, "Vic, is she all right?"

"Mother?" Victor called, turning to his mother now, who still had her back turned to them. He waited for a response, but didn't get one, so he called, "Mother!"

"Sith?" Miho called gently, walking over to try and assist the two younger Espers before they bordered on panic again. Then she stopped when she saw Sith's shoulders tremble. Biting her lip, she realized with certainty that the trembling was what made Sith turn away. She was crying! She was… crying!

"Sith, what's wrong!" Miho called out with concern, "Why're you crying! What…" She stopped again when she saw Sith's eye glaring at her, the woman's head turned just enough to see her. It was rimmed with red, and no doubt that tears had finally fallen.

"…" Sith finally did turn, and everyone saw she had been crying. Tears stained her face, though she looked more infuriated than sad. Quietly, slowly, she said, "How can I possibly give these people their hearts back when I don't even want my own?" No one answered. No one knew how. Sith wiped away the newest tears bitterly.

"Hearts… love… why should I want this when it's given me _this_!" she asked, gesturing to indicate the prison – though Ryou knew she meant much more than that. She also meant her family, her ruined kingdom, her cousin, her sons, Mello, himself, and most of all, Saix's life, which still may have been forfeit.

"Sith," Ryou whispered, and she glared at him, "Sith, you can't mean that."

"All I have to do is know what I've done to know my 'heart' isn't in it," she told him, "Ryou, I've caused nothing but destruction, yet somehow _I_ can give Saix his heart back? And now I have to give everyone their hearts back too?" There was bitterness in her voice, but there was also desperation, too. Sith honestly didn't feel she had it in her. And maybe she didn't have her heart, but she still had her willpower, and that was enough to keep her going. Ryou turned and put his hands on the bars of the door.

Taking a deep breath, he said, "Sith, what happened wasn't your fault. I've heard the stories, and I can't blame you for what happened; none of us can. Yes, there was destruction, and yes, some of it was done by you, but you still have a heart!"

"Whatever good it is," she mumbled, and saw Ryou's brows crease with intensity. Obviously, he didn't share her opinion. No one did.

"So you're just going to give up?" Kaiba asked her, before Ryou could speak, "God damn, Winchester, I never thought you were such a wimp." Ryou turned to glare at him. How _dare_ he say that when Sith was on the verge of destruction! But before he could unleash his own opinion, Sith laughed. And she laughed hard. It wasn't mocking or sarcastic; it was genuine amusement.

"Sure sounds like I am, doesn't it?" she asked calmly, and Kaiba's anger faded. At least she was admitting it. Sith sat on the bed, and had never felt more hopeless in her life. She was glad to see that her friends had come, more grateful than they'd ever know that they were so loyal. But she was in a cage, and there was no way to get her out.

Yet, as she sat and looked around, she realized that was no reason to make the problem worse. She wasn't childish, but she was being difficult. Ryou was right. It wasn't her fault, and she needed her energy for killing Rath, not feeling sorry for herself. Besides, she had Zealacht, and she had her sons. She had half of her guardians right there, and more than most of her friends. She had the army she needed. Now she needed to just get up and command them like the queen she used to be. Taking a deep breath, she stood and looked at them all closely. If they were going to do _anything_ after she was released, she needed to know just what they'd gone through and how each person was doing.

The answer was simple. Everyone was better than she thought. Axel and Katt looked a bit tired, but she had already heard from her sister about the Heartless assault in the corridors. Artemis was ruffled a bit, but she wasn't surprised by that, either. The man did fight his father not long before. And that brought her right to Saix. Or more, the fact that he wasn't there. Though this didn't completely surprise her, it did confuse her quite a bit. And it showed when her ears perked a bit.

"Where on earth is Saix?" she asked, not for the first time. Ryou almost laughed. In his head, her voice sounded paralyzed and terrified. Now, she merely sounded concerned. Then again, she'd had time to calm down and realize she wasn't in too much danger.

"Father's still fighting in the corridors to hold off the Heartless," Victor told her gently, and looked at her with glistening eyes, "Mother, we wanted him here with you. But he said he had to fight." Sith's lips thinned. She wasn't exactly thrilled to hear that Saix wasn't there _period_.

"That man is an idiot, and a damn stubborn one," she commented, shaking her head, "When do we marry?"

"Maybe five, ten years," Victor replied, and was subsequently bonked on the head by his older brother. He yelped and fell backwards, and Sith practically laughed. Not at her sons, but at how little time it'd be until she was chained to the berserker in question. No, that wasn't kind. She reminded herself that it was his out-of-control rage and the fact that he was a sarcastic asshole that attracted her to him at all. Even if that attraction started out as her telling him to piss off.

She wanted to say something, to tell Victor how glad she was to know this. But there was a chuckle behind her, and she felt a cold wind on her back. Instinctively, she yelped, jumped back, and drew Zealacht at the same time. The blade was up in a second, aimed right for… Saix!

"That long? And here I had been sure the wedding would be swift and lovely," the blue-haired man said, "With roses and love abound." Of course, he sounded sarcastic as usual, but at least he was smiling. Actually smiling. Maybe it was the trick of the light, or maybe Sith had become so confused with the future she didn't see, that she only _imagined_ he was smiling. Her eyes widened, especially as he said, "Sith, is that how you treat your husband?"

"We aren't married yet," she reminded him, but nonetheless she hugged him. And she was just as surprised with her action as he was, for they drew apart and just stared for a long moment, both trying to understand why she was so happy to see him. She wasn't even that happy to see _Mello_, and she _had_ dated him for a few months.

"Yet is the key word," he whispered, and she nodded. Indeed, it was, and it was only a matter of time when 'yet' became 'now.' Feeling uncomfortable, Sith turned her attention from Saix, to the portal behind him. He followed her gaze lightly, but not long before he quit that and kept his eyes on _her_.

"You'll be taking me out of here through that, correct?" she asked him, but he just grinned. Which meant he either wouldn't, or he made a serious mistake. Gods help him if it was either.

"Unfortunately, I do not have the power to warp around all day, and my power was nearly exhausted from fighting the Heartless," he informed her, and there was a tone that clearly said he was enjoying the way her eyes hardened at him, and her mouth dropped, "So, no, dear, I won't be rescuing you."

"Then _why_ did you warp in my _prison cell_ at all!" she demanded, and when Saix laughed, she said, "Why not warp yourself _outside_ of the cell!" Logically speaking, why didn't he warp into Xemnas's office and just murder the man at all? Saix stopped laughing long enough to grin at her again. Good lords of Roris, he was enjoying this too much. His eyes narrowed in that way that told her he was amused with her, and he reached out and twirled a lock of her hair.

"I may have decided I wanted to see you before I got myself killed," he admitted, but his grin didn't fade, "I may have also forgotten that my power is drained to the point of exhaustion." His grin was just a bit too feral. Sith snatched her hair from him.

"Saix," she said in warning. It sounded so oddly familiar to him, even though she had never used quite that tone to her voice.

"At least I will be by your side when Xaldin arrives," he told her seriously, and she stopped, staring up at him. That was right. Xaldin was coming, and Demyx should've been back by then. Did Saix know something she didn't? His face betrayed nothing.

"Is he coming?" she asked him, and he looked down, "What about Demyx?" His brow rose, and she realized he _didn't_ know about what she'd done.

"What _about_ Demyx?" he repeated sternly, as the portal behind him vanished. Sith realized she might have made a slight mistake, but there wasn't much room to maneuver if Saix decided he didn't like her answer. He was calm for now, but if the moon shone inside, she was a dead Esper and a deader woman. Quietly, he repeated, "What about Demyx, Sith?"

"I sent him up to secure a key and get me out of this cell," she admitted, and his face barely changed expression. But she felt his anger flare for a second. She looked away, and said, "Saix, what did you want me to do?"

"I…" Saix couldn't answer that question _in addition_ to the others she had for him. He sighed. Caring about someone would take time to get used to. Gently, he said, "I wanted you to hide and wait for me to get you out."

"To rescue me," she corrected, and he nodded. They both understood the significance of the wording, and Saix glanced at Victor and Artemis. Their children. Yes, if he messed this up, he'd lose more than just Sith.

"To rescue you," he agreed. For a long moment, silence fell inside of the Soundless Prison. Ryou watched as the Nobody and the Esper continued to stare. Whatever they saw, whatever they were saying to each other, they wouldn't share it with the others. Ryou understood that, and understood even more that there was something very real going on, for a person with no heart.

Finally, and eventually, they both broke their gazes. Neither was sure how long they'd been staring, but they were acutely aware the others were watching. They both turned and looked out at the group. Ryuuzaki snorted and purposely turned away – his way of saying 'I didn't care either way.' The others, for the most part, just seemed happy to see the reunion of sorts. Saix almost shared that sentiment. Then he looked down at Sith. She was blushing with embarrassment, knowing that if this had been a different scenario, what had been silently said would have been done so privately. She looked so endearing when she was human enough to feel embarrassment. If Saix had a heart, he'd add to it and kiss her.

As it was, though, he had no heart and they were _not_ within the privacy of Sith's chambers in Kaiba Corp. So what had been said had been done in public, with everyone they knew watching them. And as much as Saix was happy to see her again, he knew this was wasting time to get them all out. He sighed, putting a hand on Sith's back to guide her so he had room to get to the cell door. She obeyed patiently, and found herself watching as he grabbed two of the bars and shook the door as hard as possible. It didn't give.

So, he simply tried a bit harder. The door rattled this time, but it didn't break. Grunting in frustration, he practically slammed himself against the door. Now Sith intervened. She stopped him before he tried his latest tactic again, and felt him tremble when he stopped trying to struggle with her. He _was_ exhausted. She shook her head. Then she sat him down on the bed, and sat with him. Tired, frustrated, and now as embarrassed as Sith had been, Saix laid his head in his hands.

"How long ago did you send that half-wit away?" he asked her, and Sith blushed again. He had a feeling the answer was 'a while ago,' and he found he was right. Sighing, he said, "You understand he's not coming back."

"This is Demyx. He'll be back," Axel pointed out, and was met with a heavy glare. Sith quelled Saix's anger, though, and directed his attention to her.

"I did what I thought was best," she said gently, "Saix, you can handle the door without the alarms. Xemnas must not have figured you'd come." Saix looked at her. Poor girl was innocent sometimes, which was rare considering her age and life. He took a breath, and steeled himself. Sith was right. He could handle that door. But breaking it down required an effort he didn't want to put in.

"There is one way to break this door, and I'm going to take it," he said to her, and stood, "Sith, whatever you do, do _not_ touch me for a few moments. I can't guarantee I won't bite your neck off." Sith watched him, stunned, for too many seconds too long. Now she was worried again. Not only was there not enough room to move, if he went berserk in such a small space, he would hurt both of them, and he'd extinguish whatever energy was left.

"Saix, don't!" she said, and was met with a guttural growl. Saix turned to her, and he'd already gone berserk in the time it took for her to register what he intended. He snarled at her, and she sat as far back on the bed as she could. But he seemed to at least recognize her a bit. He snarled less viciously at her, and turned back to his true enemy. To the damn door that was locking him in.

Now he roared, and slammed against the door. This time, it creaked horribly in protest. Saix slammed it again, and again, and each time, it budged and creaked and bent. Sith and Ryou watched in horror. Saix's arm was beginning to bruise underneath his cloak, but he simply grew more vicious with each unsuccessful attempt. Finally, his barrage found purchase, and he barreled right through, taking the door off its hinges as both he and the blasted metal slammed hard into the ground. Sith stood quickly, and found to her horror that Jou, Honda, and Yugi had not taken his warning. They were trying to help him.

He snarled at them fiercely, his eyes blazing yellow. He could feel it in him, that want to kill everyone here, that uncontrollable urge to kill and see blood. He roared and lunged for Yugi, but something pushed him out of the way. He collided with something slightly bigger and frailer, and they both fell to the floor. Then he smelled that something, and smelled the familiar scent of roses and juniper. Sith… he crashed into Sith.

"I told you not to touch me," he growled irritably, his rage slowly fading back into nothing, and looked up to see that, at least he hadn't landed on her and crushed her. She looked down at him, and snorted sarcastically.

"You would've killed Yugi, you idiot," she mumbled, and actually had the guts to smack him on the nose with her forefinger, "You want a repeat of the last time you went berserk?" Saix could say honestly he didn't. He sighed, letting his head rest on the hard floor. It felt comfortingly cold.

"No. Last time, I nearly killed you," he said, and grinned, "This time, I just want to kill your friends. You and the kids can live." That earned him a glare. And a kick to his very, very sensitive spot below the belt.

The door couldn't possibly be put back in place, so when Ryou and Zexion went to check on the damage, they decided to not even bother, even with Zexion's ability with magic. But that would lead to a very big problem indeed. If they left the prison, anyone who came in would know Sith was gone, and that only a force like Saix could've splintered the door so badly. Yet when they asked – practically begged! – Axel to help them, he waved it away and said to just leave the door. Something about a sign to show Xemnas how Saix felt about abducting his future wife.

So, they left the metal mess as it was. Now was the problem of getting everyone on their feet. Sith was fine, and everyone else was already waiting for her to give the command to run. But Saix was a different story. Sith had kicked him, and she kicked him hard and where she knew it'd hurt. Damn it, she was allowed to have friends, but Saix didn't think she needed to be a bitch about it. He didn't have a heart, sure, but he still knew what _pain_ felt like. And this was undoubtedly painful in the extreme.

"How long are you going to let him suffer that?" Anzu whispered, when Sith simply stood, watching the man groan in agony. Sith grinned a bit, and something told Anzu this was going to probably be a regular occurrence if Saix kept to his path.

"Depends. Will he still act like an idiot if I heal him?" she countered, and Saix moaned when he knew the question was directed mostly at him. Ryou could only laugh. He knew the answer was 'yes.' Hell, he and Mello acted like idiots when they were around Sith, and what they had was temporary. Saix had the rest of his life to deal with Sith and her often-unusual forms of _revenge_.

"Sith, go easy on him," Ryou urged, and Sith stared, "He's not Mello. He won't find it funny if they fall off next time." Sith's face went crimson, and Ryou felt satisfied when he heard Malik and Axel roar with laughter. That was an understatement. Not only would Saix find it 'not funny,' he'd probably retaliate and slice her tail off. Then they'd end up killing each other before Artemis was born.

"Besides," Matt added, watching Saix try to get up and try to keep down a cry of pain at the same time, "If he's your husband, you have to get used to him doing stupid shit all of the time. It's what we men do. The more we like the girl, the bigger an ass we become to impress her." Sith looked at her old friend flatly. That sounded more like a suicide wish than anything involving a woman. She looked back at Saix. Still whining and moaning, but at least he was making some progress. He was almost on his feet.

"You're probably right," she admitted, but her tone said clearly she had ulterior motives for agreeing, "I still want my kids." Matt burst out laughing, and Saix groaned loudly, realizing this was only the beginning of his torture. Ryou could only shake his head. They were perfect for each other. They'd end up saving everyone else the trouble of going after them, and they'd love each other by torturing each other to death. It was beautiful, in a morbid way.

"I'm not giving you _anything_ if you kick me there again," Saix growled. This time, Sith just laughed at him. He grumbled a bit, but found it hard to want to knock her on the head for it. In a way, he felt he deserved it for giving her to Xemnas at all. He stood and looked down at her again. She seemed to almost forgive him.

"So, you two are taking this future shit seriously, eh?" Jou observed, and found Sith staring at him. He hadn't meant for it to sound rude, of course, but damn it, he had a feeling _he'd_ be kicked soon, too. Slowly, the older woman nodded.

"What tipped you off? Our sons, or the fact that you all just battled hundreds of Heartless to get here?" she asked him, and then realized what she'd said. Slowly, almost skeptically now, she continued, "Which begs a new question of _how did you get here?_" Not that she needed the answer, of course, since she already knew who had become involved. She looked from Jou, to Axel, Zexion, and Saix. They understood she held them responsible for putting her friends up against Heartless. Axel just shrugged.

"Hey, when the nephews get involved, Sith, I'll tear up any world to help 'em," he stated truthfully, and grinned at her, "Besides, we got you and your husband to kiss and make up. Isn't that what we want?" Ryou could honestly say it _wasn't_, but no one wanted to argue right then. Sith and Saix just glanced at each other, and then back at Axel.

"What we _want_ is to get these people out before they're all turned into Heartless, idiot," Saix reminded him, and looked at Sith seriously, "With any luck, you should be able to find Xigbar and escape. Take your friends, take our kids, and run, Sith."

"And what about you guys?" Honda asked him, and Saix turned. His face went grim. He didn't like the idea of leaving Sith to lead everyone out alone, but there was a bigger problem to face shortly.

"Leave us to clean up the mess we started," Saix replied. At first, Honda had no idea what he meant by that. Then he heard pounding, and heard the door open far above, beyond the spiraling staircase. His breath caught in his throat. Without magic, and without any knowledge of how energy could be transmitted, Honda understood now what that problem was.

Xaldin had just reached the prison.

-(End Chapter)

Finally managing to find Sith in the Soundless Prison, Ryou and the others help her figure a way to break free before the 'guard' wakes up to take her heart. Luckily, that guard ended up being the one Nobody who's afraid of his own shadow. But when he chickens out, Sith is left to find a new way to free herself from her cell. And that freedom comes in the form of Saix, recently returned from the corridors of darkness. With so many allies, can Sith storm the Castle and stop Xemnas? Can they escape with their hearts still intact? Or will Xaldin get the last laugh? Find out next chapter, so click that Review button!


	13. Xaldin

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, Kingdom Hearts, or Death Note. I bet you expected some sort of witty remark about that, but I'm tired today. Takahashi, Ohba, and Square-Enix, you don't need to thank me.

"Well, the son of a bitch is right on time," Kaiba mumbled, looking at his watch. Logically, it should've stopped working when they went cruising through the time-space continuum, but somehow it was still operating. And it showed the hour as being midnight. Too convenient, Ryou thought, as they all stood with their breaths held. Quietly, he risked a look toward Sith. She looked haggard now, and more than a little scared to be dealing with Xaldin. He didn't blame her; Xaldin could easily kill her if he wanted to.

They heard a heavy step on the top stair, and it echoed down the walls like a death toll. They saw the shadow, long and thin on the white wall. But it didn't descend the stairs. It simply stood there. Ryou heard a small click – Ryuuzaki wasn't about to take a chance of being caught off guard. Then, he heard a voice above them chuckle. Damn it, that was definitely Xaldin's voice, too.

"Who is down there?" he called, too softly for their comfort. Ryou saw in his peripheral vision that Saix moved in front of Sith, and that similarly, Malik, Kaiba, and Matt had done the same for Katt, Anzu, and Miho. Protect the women – the magicians, more specifically – and let the fighters die first. They were already thinking like guardians.

"Do we go up and fight?" Ryuuzaki asked without speaking. Sith shook her head slightly, and used the same telepathy she'd used for Ryou. This time, though, she did not have it pointed. She needed everyone on her side to hear her.

'_Not much use to get ourselves killed_,' she replied calmly, and looked up, '_In battle, it's always smart to let your opponent make the first move. I've always preferred to watch, anyway._' Kaiba snuck a sideways glance at her.

'_Could've fooled me_,' he thought, though he hadn't meant to make it public. He regretted it when he caught Sith's glare, as well as Katt's. Shit, he didn't need to make enemies right then. '_How the hell did you hear me!_'

'_The more you all accept magic, the stronger it becomes,_' Katt told him, '_Besides, we're literally in the voids of Oblivion. This is nothing, even for humans like you._'

'_Every race has a caste to help establish how strong magic is within them,_' Sith explained when she felt everyone's confusion, '_Humans have this, too, but only powerful priests or magicians can be on par even with a Chesier. Imagine being on par to an Esper_.' Ryou guessed that within Oblivion, that was actually possible. Was that why Zexion was so damn powerful?

'_All right. We've got a way to communicate, then. Sith, what do we do?_' Malik asked her. Sith thought about it, though she kept her thoughts private for a moment. She didn't need anyone reacting to anything that would've been a mistake. But there wasn't much to do. There was one way out, and Xaldin was standing in it. They didn't have much choice now. They'd have to fight eventually.

'_Does he know for certain that we've defected?_' Zexion asked her, and Sith wasn't sure of that. She had a feeling he did, since he'd discussed it with Xemnas previously. That crossed any ideas out from Axel.

'_Maybe you could overwhelm his mind with your thoughts_,' Matt offered, taking his goggles off so the glare from the light wouldn't give him away, '_I mean, you did it to Kira once. Kept my ass alive when I needed it._'

'_It'd take too much energy for Sith to try,_' Katt replied earnestly, '_Kira's mental capabilities were next to nothing in terms of magic. Xaldin's is far higher._' Ryou didn't argue. He didn't want to push Sith's limits. He silently let out a breath. And he glanced at Sith. She looked as anxious as ever.

'_He's coming down any second,_' he heard Sith say, and her voice was a firm warning, not a statement, '_All right. We don't have a choice. But we're doing this my way. That means we're not going to overwhelm him. He'll likely blow us away with a tornado._' Ryou had no idea what that meant, but Sith knew more about Xaldin than he did. He just nodded, looking back at the stairs. Xaldin had descended a few steps, but was still hidden by the wall.

'_What's your plan?_' he asked her. He heard her take a breath; not a smart move nor stealthy in any way. He guessed that she didn't have one.

'…_stay the hell alive and run up those stairs,_' she finally said. If he could have, he'd have slapped her across the head. That was her plan. He thought even Honda would've been a bit more creative. Of course, Honda hadn't been trapped in darkness and tortured for a few hours. Nonetheless, Sith's plan sounded flat.

'_You serious!_' Jou exclaimed, bringing Ryou's question to reality. But what he saw on Sith wasn't anger. No, suddenly, she looked quite afraid. So did Katt. Jou and Ryou looked at both sisters, trying to figure out what had so suddenly terrified them. Katt had gone pale – Sith, however, went completely white.

'_Sith?'_ Ryou called.

'_Idiots_,' came a deep voice, and this time, everyone physically screamed. Because that voice, which should _not_ have been strong enough to penetrate Sith or Katt's spells, came from Xaldin. And he was standing right on the stairs, watching all of them with a vicious glint in his eyes. Along with six very real, very big spears. Spears that hovered around him using nothing more than the wind. Now Ryou began to get the tornado reference.

"So, you've managed to escape. Truly remarkable, my little Esper," he commented, slowly walking down the remaining stairs, arms crossed, "But it doesn't hinder us, my dear. You've only exhausted yourself." He stopped on the last step, and then he saw the rest of her friends. But more importantly, he saw Axel and Zexion. Saix was hidden in the shadows.

"Blow all the hot air you want, Xaldin," Axel said, and grinned, "We're taking Sith out. Change of plans."

"I knew you both were fools," the older Nobody growled, shaking his head. Then he looked at Zexion, "How sad, Zexion. We had never expected you to defect from us. Your loyalty was astounding, as was your work ethic." Zexion obviously felt a pang of pride in that, but he kept it well hidden. He actually smirked, which was a stupid thing to do considering the man he was smirking at was nearly twice his size.

"I never would have, except that you put _Sith Winchester_ in danger," Zexion replied, "You know very well what she is meant to do. You jeopardized it." Xaldin looked as disinterested in that as possible. He sighed, shaking his head. He almost felt like laughing at the little runt before him.

"You believe in fairy tales!" Xaldin exclaimed, and glanced at Sith, "Espers are nothing more than humans with magic. Pathetic humans, at that. They cannot even keep their family lives in tact…"

He was cut off when Sith punched him right in the face. Ryou gasped, and Anzu screamed, but everyone else stared as though the impossible finally happened. Perhaps it had – Xaldin was one of the strongest of Organization XIII. Nonetheless, Sith simply stood, waiting. Whether it was to slam Xaldin's face again, or simply not knowing what she'd truly done, she literally did nothing more. Xaldin, on the other hand, went down and slammed into the floor. Sith had packed quite a lot of power in her blow. As well as a ton of hatred. Good. She would be a good Heartless.

"So your family is your weakness," Xaldin murmured gently, looking up at her, "I should have foreseen it when you tried to assist Saix."

"Don't you dare compare us to humans again, and don't you _ever_ insult my family, you son of a bitch," Sith spat furiously, and she probably would've kicked Xaldin if she knew it'd do any good. But as it was, they all knew he was goading her. Xaldin grinned and stood, looking down at Sith. Then he took a deep breath.

Something in him changed when he did that, and Ryou saw it. So did Malik and Ryuuzaki. And so did Saix. Ryou heard the man growl – it was low, but it was there and he was furious. Likewise, Malik held the Millennium Rod up, and Ryuuzaki lowered his pistol toward the floor, not quite understanding the significance. Sith was similarly confused.

"Such a lovely scent," Xaldin remarked, and Sith backed away instantly, "_Now_ I understand Saix's reaction. It's a shame I will be ending your life, of course, but now I finally understand."

"Understand _what?_" Malik demanded, and he felt Katt put a hand on his shoulder to try and calm him down. It didn't work. Sith was in too much danger for him to want to back down. Xaldin looked at him for a split second. Then he returned his attention to Sith.

"All Espers have a scent to them, like humans do. But it's more pronounced and much richer, and easier to detect," Katt whispered to Malik, and he stared at her, "The higher your caste, the stronger the scent is." Malik got the point. Sith was high in that esteem.

"Sith's scent is strong because she's a queen," he concluded, but Katt shook her head.

"No. She's queen in name only, but her caste is even higher," Katt replied, "She's a Prince. They are the most powerful Espers in existence, and there aren't many of them left. Our brother's a Prince, too, and so am I." Malik didn't see how a prince outranked a queen, but Esper hierarchy was something he just didn't know about. He went with it for now, and looked back at Xaldin. Who was still fixated on their Prince.

"You would kill an Esper Prince," Sith said bluntly, "Would Xemnas let you?"

"Would you prefer I do far worse?" Xaldin countered, and that's when Saix lost it.

Xaldin hadn't seen it coming. He had assumed the only Nobodies were himself, Axel, and Zexion. But as soon as the words left him, as soon as the thought was complete, he found himself being slammed in the hip, and tossed right into the wall. At first, he had thought Sith had used a spell to do it. Then he heard that unmistakable snarl, and knew Saix had finally come. He would've laughed. But he had a feeling he was in a very bad position to do anything but fight back.

So instead, he grunted and twisted just in time for Saix to body slam him again. The two stared at each other, face to face. Sweat rolled down Xaldin's face, but it practically poured off of Saix – and the latter looked caught between his berserk state and his normally-civil one. For a long, horrible moment, the two merely laid there, staring at each other. Then Saix snarled again, and Ryou saw for the first time that he had fangs. Fangs that could rip Xaldin's throat out.

Saix bent down to bite Xaldin's neck, but Xaldin's reflexes were faster. He slammed his elbow into the smaller Nobody's chest, and flung Saix off of him. Saix flew across the room, but he managed to backflip before he hit the ground, and he landed on his feet. And he looked far angrier than he had before. Ryou didn't think it was possible, but he managed it. He was panting – he was exhausted with the effort needed to fight. But all he had to do was remind himself of what Xaldin just threatened to do if he let up in any way.

"You touch her and I'll rip your insides out," Saix growled. His pupils were almost gone at that point, but he wasn't completely berserk yet. If Xaldin was smart, he'd get the message and vanish. But he wasn't threatened in any way. He grinned wickedly.

"Would you? You look as though you'd rather fall down and die," Xaldin commented truthfully, and Saix nearly flinched. He _wanted_ to rest. But not at the cost of Sith again. He snorted.

"I have more than enough energy to take you down," Saix replied, but it was clear he _didn't_. Even Victor could see his father was ready to fall. Ryou looked at Sith. He could feel it. She was _waiting_ to take another hit at Xaldin. And he knew that once she did, she would be dead, too.

He knew what had to be done. Without any instruction, without any training, he _knew_ what Saix wanted. He took a breath. Dragging Sith out alive while Saix dealt with Xaldin would be tough, but watching Saix die would be worse. He turned to Ryuuzaki and Malik, as they were the closest between himself, Sith, and the other three women in the room.

'_We have to get Sith out of here while Xaldin is distracted_,' Ryou said to them both, and Malik nodded, '_Malik, you get Katt, Miho, and Anzu out. They'll follow you. Ryuuzaki, I'll need your help with Sith._'

'_You sure this is a smart thing to do? What if that ape catches us?_' Ryuuzaki asked, brow raised physically to emphasize the question. Ryou's expression hardened. It wasn't smart, but it was what was best for Sith. And if she was a Prince, that was what mattered most.

'_Then we die protecting Sith and Katt. They won't stop if they find out Katt is Sith's sister_,' Ryou explained, '_Ryuuzaki, I know you're a guardian. You know what it means to protect an Esper_.' Ryuuzaki knew that as well. He gave a grim nod, and looked at Sith. Matt wouldn't likely know how to get her out if she wanted to stay, and Basch seemed more likely to hold Xaldin off than run Sith to safety. And Bakura would just make the situation worse by arguing with her instead of being a guardian for her. It was up to him and Ryou.

'_Ryou, you go on ahead. Take Yugi, Honda, and Jou,_' Ryuuzaki said, '_Take the ones who can't fight, and I'll come with Sith in a bit.'_ Ryou nodded, and was gone before Ryuuzaki could say anything more. He smiled. It was weird working as a team with people he couldn't stand before. But somehow, it felt right.

Ryuuzaki turned, facing Sith fully. She was frozen as she watched Saix and Xaldin tear at each other again. Ryuuzaki suddenly realized now that getting Sith to move wasn't the problem. Doing it without getting caught up in the fight was. He sighed, shaking his head. This was what it meant to be a guardian. Now he had to guard himself and Sith.

Ryou had done what Ryuuzaki said, and had gotten Yugi, Jou, and Honda with him by the time Malik had rounded up Katt, Miho, and Anzu. None of them wanted to leave Sith there alone, but Malik was particularly persuasive – and was Katt's guardian as well, it seemed. It took only a stern word to get Katt to do what she was told. Miho and Anzu followed suit when they saw how easily the Esper turned tail.

They were up the stairs and in the dark hallway before they even heard the fighting. Ryou stopped briefly just once to consider getting Victor and Artemis. Then, he realized there was no point. Both of their parents were in the fray. They wouldn't leave even for a second. So, before Yugi noticed his hesitation, he continued on, looking back to make sure they weren't followed. After all, Xaldin was just one of Organization XIII. There were still at least eight others to contend with. But for the moment, they were alone.

'_Ryou, where are we running to?_' Malik asked him, his voice momentarily fading as he rounded a corner. Ryou realized then that he had no idea where they were heading. He was simply running to get them away from Xaldin.

'_Er…_' He had to stop so he could think of a suitable answer. Taking a breath, he looked around the corridor. It was too dim to make out much of the details, but it stretched onwards on either end, and there were no doors that he could see. There were only two ways to go: forward, into the unknown, or back towards the dungeons.

'_Nowhere to go but forward, Malik_,' Ryou said, '_But we have to explain it to Yugi and the others. They might be too scared to understand what's going on._'

'_Already ahead of you, buddy_,' Malik replied, and Ryou felt him grin, '_Katt's herding the girls ahead of me, and I can wave to Jou right now._' Good. Jou had the sense to keep himself and Honda moving. Ryou knew Yugi would stay back for him, so he wasn't too worried when he didn't hear that Yugi was with Malik. Then, a new thought occurred to him. Nothing had been said for Kaiba. When he asked, though, Malik said, '_I told him. He wants to stay and help Sith_.'

'_What!_' Ryou could honestly say he was shocked. Kaiba and Sith didn't like each other much at all. Why on earth would he stay to help her? Then, Ryou just shook his head. Perhaps Kaiba was believing in magic, after all.

'_Relax. Some of us can fight, Ryou. Kaiba's one of us,_' Malik reassured him, '_He doesn't look it, but he'll kick their asses if they get too close._' Ryou didn't want to bet all his money on that, but he did trust that Kaiba knew the right thing to do. He simply nodded. Then he turned and saw Yugi watching him. Was it possible the smaller boy heard everything that had gone on?

"Yugi, are you ready to go?" Ryou asked gently. But there was a glint in Yugi's eye, similar to the ones Matt often got, that meant he knew more than he'd let on. He nodded.

"Will Sith and the others be okay?" Yugi asked, and Ryou smiled. The answer was that there'd always be a chance something would happen to them. But Sith was strong, and so was Ryuuzaki, Kaiba, and Saix. Everything would be fine.

"They'll be just fine," Ryou assured him, and looked down. He saw Jou waving at him, further down in the tunnel. They were waiting. Taking another breath, Ryou said, "Come on. Ryuuzaki wants us out before we get hurt."

They walked down the hallway for several feet before Yugi spoke again. Ryou kept an eye out for anything that might be a clue as to a way out – after all, the hall seemed to expand endlessly. But there was nothing. There were no doors, and almost no light, either. Was it possible they were underground? Ryou couldn't say. There were no smells, though it was very cold. Colder than the prison, to be sure. Ryou felt himself shiver. There had to at least be stairs, eventually.

"Why couldn't we fight with Sith?" Yugi asked him, when he finally stopped and looked for a torch or a candle. They'd lost sight of Malik by then, but when Ryou tested the magical link, Malik was perfectly fine.

"Because we wouldn't survive," Ryou said simply, almost distractedly, "We're not like Ryuuzaki. He's trained to deal with paranormal threats. We're not, and Sith knows that. So do the others." Yugi looked from Ryou, to the sword in his hands. It was hard to think he had no idea what to do when he clearly had one of the three swords to hold Rath off. Besides, he'd used it skillfully before. How could he fake it?

"So we'd just be in the way," Yugi said quietly. Ryou knew it hurt them both to hear it so plainly, but it was the truth. If he had argued, he'd have just been another target for Xaldin. He was glad now that he was thinking like a guardian instead of like Sith's fiancé. Not that Saix was doing badly; he was _meant_ to be with her. Ryou knew _he_ was not.

"We're of more use if we get out and find out where Rath is," Ryou rephrased, but even that sounded more like an excuse than anything else, "Yugi, Rath is dismantling every memory Sith has been in. We have to know how far she's gone." Those words did it. Yugi's sadness faded with the realization that there was more than one threat to the older woman. He'd nearly forgotten that they had to go after Rath when this was done. And this might just be the distraction she needed to finally finish Sith off.

"We already know about the sealed memory. Yami said it's growing fuzzy and he can't remember if Sith was even there or not," Yugi said to him, and Ryou wasn't surprised by that, "Ryou, that was a thousand years after Sith was born. How far back could she have gone?" Considering that it took her three months to reach that memory, they had little less than twenty-eight days. Not counting the amount of time wasted just going after Xemnas. Or traveling through time.

"That's what I'm going to find out. We need to get to Malik," Ryou replied seriously. Yugi nodded. Knowing now why Ryou was taking them out – as far as he knew, anyway – gave him a reason to not go back and help out. They both looked ahead. Another corner. They had to hope Malik was around it.

The corner led to a stairway that went upwards. Ryou didn't hesitate to take it, and the two bounded up two steps at a time. All of the sudden, the world went from black, to white, and it took a painfully long moment for Ryou to even realize it. But when he reached the top step and stopped for a breath, he realized they were no longer in the dark. The steps had gone on only a short distance, or so it seemed, but they were in a large hallway that was purely white – marble, perhaps. And when he looked back down the stairs, they stretched on as endlessly as the corridors below.

It hurt to look from pure darkness to the stark white hallway around them. Once Ryou's eyes adjusted, though, he forced himself to do it. Hallways and corridors in all directions. There were archways and balconies to the upper floors, and the lights were as soft as the torches Sith could conjure. The darkness outside only added to the feeling of brightness within. All around him, there were different ways to go and different corridors to take. But there was no sign of Malik or anyone else. In fact, it felt as if the castle had been deserted. Ironically, that made Ryou feel more trapped than before.

Making sure Yugi was still with him, Ryou took a breath and called for Malik. Despite the gentleness, his voice bounced off the walls and into every hallway around them. Ryou winced. Not even a whisper could be hidden here. Knowing the best way to be quiet was to use their magical link again, Ryou did just that.

'_Malik!_' Ryou called, but was met with the same success. There was no answer. Now Ryou was worried. He kept it hidden so it didn't leak through to Yugi, but he steeled himself as he called, '_Ryuuzaki!_' This time, he hit his mark.

'_Ryou, what the hell's wrong? You sound panicked,_' Ryuuzaki stated, and Ryou explained that he'd lost Malik, but that he'd been speaking over the link and thought nothing of it until he'd gone up those steps. '_What! Shit, are you serious!_'

'_Do you have Sith? Where are you guys?_' Ryou asked him.

'_Yeah, we do. Saix pulled through and knocked Xaldin out cold. He grabbed Sith and told us to follow him out, and we're in the tunnels,_' Ryuuzaki replied, and Ryou felt relief in that. They were less than ten minutes away. '_All right. I told Saix about it. He said to wait there, and he'll get us out. Or he'll send Zexion to help you._' Ryou didn't know which would be better, but after that, he knew it was best to let Ryuuzaki go. He cut off the link, and led Yugi to a small bench under and alcove that was obscured half by the overhanging balcony, and half by the shadows. They could watch the stairway, and were hidden from view.

"Where are the others?" Yugi whispered, low enough that it didn't bounce around like Ryou's voice had. Ryou wished he had an answer. He tried to call within the link again, but he had no response again. It was like the man had just vanished.

"I'm sure they're fine," Ryou replied, trying to sound as confident as he wished he felt. But the truth was, there was a chance they'd run into another Organization member and were slaughtered. Only Malik could've been able to fight back. And he wasn't nearly as strong as any of the Nobodies. Ryou wished he were alone. He could just scream and not worry about scaring the boy next to him.

They waited for several minutes before anything told them something was coming. It was a flick of the light, out of the corner of Ryou's eyes. And it came from the stairs. Ryou turned quickly, but he saw nothing. Except for a shadow that shouldn't be there. Without warning, he drew Zerrkandr and crouched, waiting. Yugi yipped and withdrew further into the shadows. But the unnatural shadow just stood there for a long moment, and Ryou saw an ear twitch. He blinked, realizing the shadow was in the shape of a large cat. A large cat…

All at once, that shadow materialized. And indeed, it was of a large, black cat. Its paws were massive, and ended in three talons – they could not have been claws, they were so huge! So, too, were its ears, which pricked at the sound of any noise around it. Its fur was short, but its tail was long and spiked, and whipped faster than anything Ryou could imagine. And it was massive, easily bigger than even Saix was. But what truly alarmed Ryou was not the beast's size. It was the runes inscribed on the thing's fur, and the third eye that was blazing on its forehead. It was a beast of a different realm. And it was looking right at him.

'_Shit!_' Ryou hissed in his head. He was worried now about just surviving against this enemy before the others came up, but he hadn't expected Ryuuzaki to hear him. Nor had he expected Sith to be there, either. He heard a chuckle that was distinctly familiar.

'_Is Dithrambus with you?_' she asked, and Ryou's mouth dropped. That _thing_ actually had a name. But… how the hell did Sith know what it was called? He asked her that, and she said, '_Dithrambus is my pet. I summoned her once Xaldin was down. I figured we might need some help to escape Xemnas's wrath._' That was a nice idea, but she should've summoned her little cat earlier. Ryou didn't dare say that, though. Sith had been through enough, and might not have had the circumstances to summon such a massive beast. He shook his head. That thing… was her _pet!_

'_I know we have Rush, but where did you get Dithrambus! Where were you keeping her!_' Ryou asked, and heard Sith laughing. Rush himself was a force to reckon with, and could easily topple a car with one body slam. But his size was dwarfed when compared to Sith's other companion. Especially when that companion was lying down and was _still_ bigger than Ryou. Damn it, this was _not_ the kind of thing Ryou wanted to see.

'_I kept her in Algon with the family_,' Sith said, '_Dar didn't mind it, and said Dithrambus was good at chasing out the mercenaries that wander through. Her mom wasn't happy, but Dith's been with me since I came here. So, she stays until I leave, too._' Convenient. Ryou wished she'd said something about the giant animal before. It would've been nice to have back when they were going after Amber or Falnika. Or, hell, back whenever any Mystic threatened their lives.

'_Any particular reason you never summoned her before?_' Ryou asked flatly. He knew Sith hated his tone, but she could deal with it later. Right now, he had a right to know why he was being watched by a very big, very dangerous cat. Sith hummed a bit.

'_Probably because I didn't think we needed to. If I had, who'd have kept your world safe while we were off fighting Rath's forces?_' Ouch. Now Ryou understood why his world hadn't collapsed yet. If Dithrambus was anything like her master, then she was as adept at slaying the forces of darkness as Sith was.

Before Ryou could ask anything more, he saw Ryuuzaki and Kaiba burst through the archway leading into the basement. Basch and Matt were right behind them, followed by Axel, Zexion, and Saix. Sith was being carried by the berserker, and seemed to be trying to struggle with him and wield her sword at the same time. Not one of them were even threatened when they had to stop before the massive beast blocking their way. They simply stopped, all at once, and Saix set Sith down in front. Dithrambus looked down at her, and then seemed to just huff. As if to say '_You finally made it._'

"You okay, Ryou?" Ryuuzaki asked, and Ryou slipped out from his hiding place. He had Yugi with him. Ryuuzaki smiled and said, "Good. You scared me earlier. Wasn't sure we'd come here and find you in one piece."

"I'm sorry. I lost the others," Ryou replied, more to Sith than to Ryuuzaki, "They went ahead. But since I could still hear Malik, I didn't think he'd get hurt." Sith didn't seem upset, but she looked around thoughtfully. Unlike the others, she could sort out Malik's energy and find him that way. But his energy was gone, too. So was Katt's.

"I doubt they were hurt, and we'd smell blood if they were killed," Sith assured him, "So chances are, they aren't hurt too badly. But where could they possibly go that'd hide their scent?" She looked up at Saix, and then at Zexion. But they seemed just as confused.

"The only way to mask them is to use a corridor of darkness and escape this world," Zexion told her cautiously, almost nervously, "But who would open one for them?" They all knew only the three spirits or Nobodies could do it. Sith wanted to question those three, but when she turned, she realized they weren't with them. Neither, now that she saw it, were her sons. Her eyes widened. That couldn't have been possible!

"Saix, where are our kids!" she asked, turning sharply to face him. He blinked profusely, and then shrugged. Sith wanted to kick him again for it, too.

"To hell if I know. I thought they were following us," he said, and his tone made even Kaiba question if the man even cared that his children were gone. He _was_ a Nobody, after all.

"Saix," Sith growled furiously. His face hardened, however, and she knew that any further complaint would just frustrate him. Good. At least he was bothered by the fact that their _sons_ were _missing_. He looked back down the stairs. Maybe the two just fell behind. But he didn't smell them anywhere.

"Artemis! Victor! Get up here or you're both _grounded!_" Saix roared down the stairs. He didn't understand how, but he _knew_ that threat worked with them. So did Sith, and she practically laughed when he'd said it. Except that it _hadn't_ worked. He was met with silence, and a sickening feeling in his stomach. "_Artemis! Victor!_"

"Where the hell is everyone?" Kaiba asked, when _nothing_ seemed to work. It felt suddenly like their world was shrinking, and he felt himself shiver. If _anything_ happened to Anzu, he was going to kill something.

"I don't like this," Axel murmured, drawing his chakrams as Zexion looked down the closest corridor. It was empty. So were the others, too. How could so many people vanish at once?

"Dithrambus," Sith called, and the cat turned to look at her, "Find them." The large cat yowled, and then stood up. Her tail lashed at the ceiling, and her third eye flew open, glowing blue. It had been red before; perhaps the color indicated its usage. Then, that color went to green, then to purple. Then, the eye shut. Dithrambus growled.

"Well?" Ryou asked. Sith's lips thinned and she shook her head.

"They're gone," she whispered, "All of them, just up and out of this world. Our friends, my sons… where have they gone?" Ryou put a hand on her shoulder, and they both sat down. This was as scary as it was infuriating. But one thing they knew was that Xemnas wasn't responsible, and neither was Rath. Neither of them could simply _erase_ someone. Not without going through time to do it. And this didn't feel like that.

Yet, in spite of everything, it was such a small relief. Even if it wasn't _the_ two enemies, it was _something_. Quietly, after a time, Ryou asked, "What do you think could've happened?" Sith shook her head. After her own experiences with magic, she was ready to rule just about everything that _could_ happen. Including the possibility of a rift in Oblivion swallowing them all.

"I'll tell you what happened," Ryuuzaki growled, keeping his weapon out in case Xaldin, or something even worse, came out of the basement, "Shit hit the fan. Sith, what other enemies do you have?" Aside from the two previously mentioned, Sith didn't have any who'd have the guts to try this. She shrugged.

"It's not an enemy," she told him, and he turned to look at her fully, "Whatever happened, it isn't hostile. At least we can take comfort knowing they're probably not harmed." She noticed Kaiba slowly relaxed, and so did Basch. Ryuuzaki, however, had not.

"Let's not forget we've still got something targeting _us_, too," the detective growled, "I heard something down there. Did you?" Ryou blinked a bit. At first, he couldn't because everyone had been talking. But when Ryuuzaki asked for silence, they _did_ hear something. It was a loud thump. Then another. Ryou shivered.

"Is he up!" he demanded, and Sith made the motion to be quiet. Ryou blushed a bit, and then switched to the magical link. It was beginning to weaken; probably due to whatever caused the others to disappear. '_It's got to be Xaldin!_'

'_I didn't think someone so big would be up so soon,_' Matt commented, and that earned a snort from Kaiba, which was quickly hushed. They all waited, barely drawing a breath. Even Dithrambus was silent, a feat indeed considering her size. But nothing else was heard. Just the wind outside.

'_Think he heard us?_' Axel asked, glancing at Ryou and Ryuuzaki. Neither of them knew, but they hadn't thought they'd be loud enough for it to be possible. They waited another minute. Still nothing, but Dithrambus was getting irritated by something. She growled lowly, her voice rumbling off the walls. That, someone would probably have to hear.

'_Cat senses something funny,_' Kaiba mumbled, looking over at Sith, '_It's got to be Xaldin. We've got to outrun him, Winchester._' Sith would've liked to, but she knew too much about this castle to know escape wouldn't be possible if Xaldin was up. He'd have reported to Xemnas, who would have cut off all routes of escape.

'_Outrun him where?_' Zexion asked flatly, gesturing toward the entire hallway, '_This castle shifts depending on Xemnas's moods. Chances are, we won't find an exit unless Xaldin's blocking it._'

'_Actually, you won't find an exit period_,' a new link opened up, and Ryou nearly froze, '_I will be killing you now._' Sith's eyes hardened, and then all of the sudden, she felt a gloved hand clamp her mouth shut before she could scream. It wasn't needed; Ryou and Saix already saw Xaldin appear before he touched Sith. Saix was ready instantly. Lunatic was in his hand and he was lunging toward the older Nobody by the time Ryou managed to summon Zerrkandr.

Xaldin was a step ahead. He smirked as Saix came closer, and then all at once, all six spears were up and deflecting Saix's attack, sending the berserker back several feet by a sheer blast of wind. Saix snarled, landing on his feet, but as soon as he did, he just went right back on the assault. That was, until Xaldin's spears turned and aimed in the opposite direction – and right at Sith. Saix froze. No way in hell was he going to get Sith killed. He'd done enough already.

"Let her go, Xaldin," Saix said forcefully, trying to remain as calm as he normally was. Xaldin just laughed, a harsh sound that made Ryou wince.

"Number Seven, have you forgotten you have no heart?" he asked in reply, his spears hovering uncomfortably close to Sith, "When will you give up this pitiful act and help us once again?"

"When hell freezes over, shit-for-brains," Ryuuzaki spat, "Eat ions, bastard." He shot his pistol, and a blast of red energy rocketed toward Xaldin. The Nobody was not afraid; one spear deflected the ballistic, and all of them inched closer to Sith, who was shaking in Xaldin's grasp. She knew she'd be skewered and wouldn't live through it. She was too exhausted.

"That was a big mistake," Xaldin told him, and looked at Saix, "I'm so sorry, but your wedding's been canceled." He grabbed one of his spears and thrust it through Sith's chest. Or what should have been, except that Sith was _gone_. Xaldin's mouth dropped. That should not have been possible. Except that she wasn't there.

"Sith!" Ryou called, as Kaiba said, "Where is she!" Then, they got their answer when the world around them darkened. It rattled and shook, and slowly turned black. Then, there was a portal underneath all of them. Except for Xaldin. That was when Ryou heard a voice.

"Time to go, kiddo." And then, Ryou found himself falling right through the portal. Right back into the darkness.

-(End Chapter)

Ryou takes his friends and manages to escape from the Soundless Prison without fighting Xaldin, but when they reach the first floor of the castle, he realizes that, as he was speaking to Yugi, he lost track of Malik. When Ryuuzaki and the others join him, he relays the news to Sith, who is similarly depressed from it. But before they can figure out what happened, Xaldin reappears with an intent to kill. But they have one more ally on their side before Organization XIII can win. Who is this ally, and what did he do to stop the fight? Where will Ryou end up, and are the others safe, as well? Find out next chapter, so click that Review button!


	14. Painful Memories

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, Death Note, or Kingdom Hearts. I sent Takahashi a note asking for the deed to Ryou, but he sent me back an I.O.U.

The darkness was luring him deeper as he fell through the portal, and Ryou lost all feeling in his body. The fear in him, the gnawing hurt of what happened to Sith, the hatred in the past, all of it melted away while he floated in darkness, in nothing. He felt nothing, saw nothing, heard nothing. Nothing but the slow beating of his heart. It was a stark, harsh contrast to what he normally felt in his own life. Was it even real? Was it a lie? He couldn't answer, and he felt no need to. He was content to be as he was, free in the voids of Oblivion. Free of feeling, free of pain. Free of life and death. Ryou finally understood why Bakura had been driven mad in the darkness. It was easy to let go of sanity and humanity in this place.

Then reality crashed in around him, and Ryou suddenly felt himself land, hard, onto pavement. All of the pain and fear came back in a hurling mass, and it sent his stomach reeling once he was alive enough to remember it all. He opened his eyes instantly, and found he was dizzy, his vision blurred. He could barely see Yugi beside him, trying to support him, and he barely saw a swimming mass of black before him. Was it Axel? Was it Zexion? He couldn't even tell. He could only turn away. And then he vomited.

"Whoa, easy there, kid," came Xigbar's voice, but it sounded so distant in the jumble of Ryou's mind, "Take it easy, you're okay now."

"What the hell did you do to him!" Malik demanded furiously, but Xigbar shrugged as if he weren't surprised by Ryou's reaction. He didn't even really seem to care.

"Hey, this happens when you're spiraling through the abyss," the Nobody said casually, carelessly, "Some people can take it, most people can't. Ryou's a sensitive one, I guess." That was bullcrap. They _all_ went through that portal, and not even Miho had such a strong reaction. All that happened was that she stumbled when she landed.

"We're _all_ human, you idiot," Malik retorted harshly, "_None_ of us upchucked our lunches." None except Ryou, of course. Ryou himself knew why – he was so enshrouded in the darkness of Bakura's magic, and so saturated with Sith's residual energy, that the tumble between the abyss and Oblivion was messing him up. It was almost like going through a blender.

"Where are we now?" Ryou managed to ask, this time without throwing up the contents of his stomach. His vision cleared only a little bit, but wherever they were, it was still in the middle of the night. Only the twinkling of distant stars told him they were _outside_. But whether they were in Domino, in Egypt, or in the World that Never Was… well, that was a different story.

"Still in the World that Never Was," Xigbar replied, turning and looking back at the white castle beyond the fading crystal bridge, "I wasn't strong enough to bring you all to a different world, but at least I got us all out." Considering how far Xemnas was going to block their escape, Xigbar's efforts were commendable and welcome. Ryou saw Sith out of the corner of his eye. She was unharmed, though her power felt weaker than he wanted.

"Thank you for that," she said to him, joining him as they watched the castle. There was no activity, and no one was trying to cross the bridge to stop them. Turning her head toward him, she asked, "What will you do now? You're betraying Xemnas by helping us."

"Maybe it's time for Xemnas to be betrayed," he replied with a shrug, and when he saw his answer only confused the Esper, he added, "Hey, look, did you want your husband or not?" Sith blushed, which clearly said she did. Saix just grinned a bit, laying a hand on her shoulder. He towered over her by several inches, several inches that Ryou didn't find so funny until now.

"We're all going through quite a change. I suppose we should just be happy we're alive," Saix commented gently, and then looked around at the others. Frowning, he said, "I still wish I knew where our kids are. If they're truly _our sons_, they wouldn't be stupid enough to worry us so foolishly." Ryou didn't want to say he felt Saix was being a bit harsh. But he was learning that the harsher Saix was, the more worried he actually felt. As if his grip on Sith didn't say enough.

"Victor always ran off when I needed him most," Ryou told them, and seemed to talk particularly to Saix, to ease his concern, "Sith, remember when Amber separated us all, trying to break the link we had found in Winbourne?" Sith nodded cryptically, though it was obvious she wasn't making the connection. Ryou smiled and said, "He showed up to help me find you. He'll be back."

"With everything that's happened since then, I think his parents have a right to worry," Kaiba growled, and all three of them turned to face him. He seemed to have actually taken the worst hit from the portal, despite Ryou's reaction to it. His hair was disheveled, and his vest was practically falling off his arms. Why he hadn't bothered to straighten up, Ryou couldn't guess. But he made even Sith look pristine. And that was just a bit sad.

"Having trouble getting your legs back?" Ryuuzaki asked with a laugh. Kaiba turned sharply to his self-appointed combat partner fast and sharp.

"Shut up!" he snapped, and then turned back to Sith, "Look, Winchester, there's no easy way to say this. We're still uncomfortably close to Xemnas, and I haven't seen Artemis or Victor. We can either search, or we can leave, but there's no time for both." There was no way Sith would leave her own children. But as she looked upon the castle, and could _feel_ Xaldin's fury mounting, she wasn't sure which one would spell their deaths faster. If they stayed for her sons, Xaldin would eventually catch up to them. The only consequences for leaving Artemis and Victor behind would be the heartache. There'd be no change to the future or to time, since technically neither existed yet.

In the end, she couldn't do it. She couldn't just _leave_ them there. They were _her sons_, and they were Esper _Princes_, just like she was. In the end, she sighed and said, "If you all want to go back to Domino and protect your world, then go on ahead. But I can't leave them here alone. They don't deserve it."

"No, they don't," Ryou agreed, standing beside Sith and Saix. They were both surprised that he was there, and he nearly laughed at their expressions. He had to remind himself that one was a half-demented Esper, and the other was a psychotic berserker with a streak of murder, and that _neither_ of them would find his humor funny at the moment. So, he cleared his throat and said, "Victor's like you, Sith. He's made friends and enemies in our world just like you have."

"Nice to know that humans still know what _loyalty_ means, even if we don't," Saix mumbled, referring solely to the Nobodies, and more importantly, to the betrayal half of Organization XIII was committing. Jou, who was closer than even Malik was, just grunted in annoyance. Non-humans were just so damn _moody_ sometimes.

"What, you didn't think we'd _care_ about your brats!" he exclaimed, unable to control himself like Ryou could, "Come _on,_ Sith! You know us better than you knew yourself, at one point!" That was a bold blow to make. Sith just stared at him flatly, and then shook her head. Even if it was a blow, it was true. She did know them, all of them. Everyone around her had hearts of gold, and a loyalty she understood too well.

"I thank you all for what you've done for my family," she said genuinely, and then frowned, "But I also understand that it isn't just my world that suffers. Rath hasn't forgotten that Domino has been my home for some time now. She could easily destroy it without my presence." That sobered up the anger Jou felt. He understood her offer now. For all they knew, Domino was a smoldering heap of a world. He couldn't bare it if that was what they'd be going back to.

"As soon as we find them, we've got to go back and see what's happening," he murmured, and Sith agreed fully. In fact, if it hadn't been for Xemnas, they'd be back in Domino by now. They'd be marching on to meet whatever threat Rath was brewing. She looked down, past the bridge and into the pit underneath the castle. Thousands of heartless were waiting down there. Clawing at the sides of the pit, trying to get up. Were those the enemies she'd face once she found Rath? Souls who lost their hearts to the ruthless Mystic? It was a sad thought to have, one that had been tearing at her since she'd left her cousin for dead, millennia before.

She was so engrossed in her thoughts, that she nearly forgot what she was looking at. It was only because of Saix's hold on her shoulder that she didn't fall into the pit. She yelped when she took a step toward them, toward the mass of darkness, and found Saix yanking her back before she tumbled. And when he spun her to look at him, she bit her lip and looked away. He wasn't exactly amused with her moment of… well, stupidity, from his point of view. He just saved her ass. He didn't need her throwing her ass back into the pits of hell.

"We don't need them clawing your heart out just yet, Sith," he grumbled, with just the right amount of sarcasm to take the sting out of his disapproval. She smiled weakly, letting him support most of her weight as he pulled her further away from the bridge. He'd considered letting go as soon as he was sure she was stable, but it was best to take that risk away entirely instead of watching her possibly stumble a second time. He still had a family to think of, after all, and he had to remember that Sith had a tendency to fall into idiocy when they least expected it.

"Right, because you won't be doing that yourself any time soon," Saix nearly dropped Sith entirely when he heard that. Not only because of who said it, but because it was actually _true_. He spun sharply, and came face to face with his sons. Who were grinning like mad idiots when he saw them. Artemis, in particular, seemed happy to see Saix as he said, "Just admit you love mother so we can get out of here before Xaldin kills us." Saix's eyes narrowed. Artemis was just a bit _too much_ like him.

"Haven't I done that _enough_ this week?" he asked, and that earned him a punch in the gut from the object of his supposed love. He looked down to find Sith glaring at him. He just grinned again. God, he'd never tire of that look. It was just _funny_, considering that she barely reached his shoulders _on tiptoes_. But underneath that look, he knew, was the reality that she could easily turn that punch into a blow that would kill him if he took it too far.

"You could try _pretending_, at least," she pointed out grumpily. But for all the irritability and the threats underneath, Saix could honestly say she sounded happy. His grin turned just a tiny bit feral, enough for Ryou to want to back away. He simply didn't, because he couldn't leave Sith to deal with it.

"Considering his lack of heart, that might be better," Bakura commented, and Saix just grunted. He could deal with Ryou and the others pointing at him and making comments, but he did _not_ want to deal with three spirits. He'd had to deal with Bakura plenty of times during his stay at Kaiba Corp, and he hadn't liked any of them.

"Bakura, where the hell have you been?" Sith demanded rather harshly, and the thief in question winced a bit.

"Hell sounds about right, Sith," Bakura replied calmly, and then seriously added, "We used Xigbar's portal to see how badly Rath's been messing with time." Sith stared for a long moment. His tone told her what he'd found wasn't good. And she wasn't surprised.

Quietly, she asked, "How bad is it?"

"Well, let's put it this way," Ishtar said sarcastically, not helping to lessen the stress of the situation, "Do you want the bad news, or the _really_ bad news?" In truth, Sith wanted neither. Ryou glanced at her, and damn it, he wished he could've done something to wipe the concern from her face. She looked too damn tired.

"If you're going to kill me, might as well do it now," Sith finally sighed, shaking her head, "Bad news first."

"She completely destroyed the sealed memory," Bakura told her, and Sith's skin went white, "There's nothing left. The portal into Nesce is gone, Egypt's gone, everything's just _gone_. Seth went into hiding, but no one knows what happened or how." That was… really, really bad. Rath took complete advantage, but what Sith couldn't figure out was _how it even happened._ She understood that she was the living memory, but how did that even happen at all? Any magic causing such a thing should have ceased when she left that memory.

"And the _really_ bad news?" she asked, almost afraid to do so. That's when all three spirits shared worried glances. None of them wanted to tell her. That meant she probably wouldn't take it very well. Ryou shivered. How bad could it possibly get?

"You're no longer a piece of the timeline," Yami finally said, and it felt like the bells of doom had finally tolled, "Everything that you've done has been completely unraveled. Whole worlds that you saved are falling apart now." That was far worse than anything Sith could've comprehended. Her mouth dropped and she nearly fainted.

"_What!_" she screamed, and gripped Saix's arm before she did fall. Her breathing became rapid, bordering completely on panic. Saix held onto her, and Ryou helped him keep her steady. Then he turned to Bakura.

"What do you mean, she's not part of the timeline?" he asked the old thief, "Bakura, what happened?" Bakura's lips thinned. This wasn't exactly the time to explain what happened during Sith's 'absence' in Egypt, but he might as well spit it out now before Sith finally croaked. He snorted.

"In all honesty, we have no idea," Bakura answered truthfully, regretfully, "The problem is, Rath did what should have never been done. She wasn't supposed to destroy Egypt. Sith was supposed to banish her sorry ass." Sith looked up at him, her eyes nearly red. Whether it was from fury or terror, though, Bakura couldn't say.

"And when I didn't, the impossible happened," she added emptily, "And because I'm still _alive_, everything I've done was _un_done, and now I'm nothing more than a rogue Prince." The trouble, unfortunately, didn't end there. Bakura's face said it all, and Sith cursed silently. What in hell could possibly be _worse_ than this, she wondered.

"It's a bit more complicated than that, Sith," Bakura told her, and her eyes narrowed dangerously, "She hasn't just destroyed the events that allowed you to be _you_. She's also banished Katt and your brother from time." Now Sith understood it. She blinked. Then she blinked again. Quietly, she looked up at Saix. He didn't understand the problem, nor did he get whatever it was Sith wanted him to get. He just looked down at her with more concern than he thought he'd feel.

"No heir to the throne of Nesce," she said, and the bell rung inside of them all again, "Now she can take the throne without repercussion. She's going to end the reign of the Espers. She's going to destroy Oblivion!" Her voice shook with terror, and it was all Saix could do to hold her without her slipping from his grasp. He knew he had to calm her down, but even Demyx would understand how truly bad this was going to be. Nesce was the _world_ of _Espers_. If Rath corrupted it, then Oblivion would never last.

"Sith, what do we do to stop her?" Saix asked her firmly, knowing he had to get her focused before he lost her. Sith stared at him, her body shaking and her eyes brimming with tears. Damn it, he _was_ losing her. Forcing all of his mental energy into a single spear, he aimed it for the small Esper in his arms and said, '_Sith!_'

'…_Saix… I'm scared_,' was the quiet reply. Saix's expression softened a little bit. He didn't blame her. Hell, he'd be scared too if he found out he was no longer part of time. He looked down at her, and then at their sons. This could be much worse than he was thinking.

"Sith, we need you to focus," he said gently, and turned her to face her friends, "You have everyone who loves you right here. We're all behind you and will fight for you. We just need to know what to do." The problem was, not even Sith knew what that could be. But someone did, and that someone stepped forward. Ryou hadn't even seen him in the crowd, and hadn't known he was there at all. But somehow, Aeon had come back and was walking toward the Esper calmly, almost serenely. Mello was by his side.

"The best course would be to go to Nesce and battle her there before she ascends the throne and takes the Crown of Sicht," Aeon told him, and everyone stared at the time-keeper. His eyes didn't leave Saix's, however. Ryou found that particularly odd. Did he know what would happen in a few years?

"Sicht…" Saix murmured, looking down at Sith, "The first Esper king?"

"My ancestor," Sith replied, and smiled, "And my namesake. My actual name is Sicht-Rander, but Sicht is a man's name. When my father realized what he'd named me, he decided to write it as 'Sith' before it was… announced." Saix's eyes narrowed. He wasn't sure he believed her, but her name wasn't worth her lying about it.

"Why would your father give you a man's name!" Honda asked her skeptically. At this, Sith's smile became a little twisted. Ryou didn't like that smile.

"My mother died shortly after I was born. My father, needless to say, was not in his right mind for the next few years," Sith explained almost flatly, "When it came time to name me, his _daughter_, he seemed to forget that I was _female_. He named me Sicht-Rander Kyrstro Winchester, after the man who formed the city of Aeroglyph so long before me." She said her own name with such a bitterness that it actually intrigued Ryou a bit to hear. He couldn't help himself.

"What does your name mean?" he asked her, and was amused when he hit the nail on the head. Sith twitched a little and her cheeks burned as she looked up at Saix. But he wasn't about to stop her. His own grin said he wanted to know, too.

"There are a few meanings," Sith began, "_Sith_ means _ghost_ in the Esper tongue. _Rander_ means _wanderer_ on its own, and combined with Sith or Sicht means _wanderer of the darkness_. And Kyrstro…" Sith smiled bitterly, "…means _bastard_." Ryou's mouth dropped. No wonder she hadn't been happy to tell them. No wonder she had taken a new name when she came to his word! If her name literally meant '_ghost-wandering bastard_,' then her father must _not_ have been thinking very well. What a god-awful name to have!

"Your father was an idiot," Mello said. All mirth vanished, and Sith's eyes grew cold. He hadn't meant to do it, but Mello knew he just insulted her. And damn it, he still felt weak under her gaze.

"Do not say that to me again," she growled, pushing herself out of Saix's arms and storming toward him, "My father was a good man. He raised my siblings and I to be _Princes_, and he protected our kingdom for six-thousand years."

"Then why didn't he protect you from Rath?" Mello asked her, and Sith stopped dead in her tracks. He _couldn't_ protect them. He _died_ trying to protect them. Because Rath was the one who killed him. Snuck into the palace on a full moon, a blue moon. Snuck into the throne room. Threatened him and slit his throat open when he wouldn't give his own daughter up. Nearly killed Sceppiro the same way. All of the anger and hatred Sith felt back then came welling up so suddenly. How could she explain that to him, to any of them? Not even Aeon was able to coax that memory from her.

"…" Sith _couldn't_ speak. She simply snarled, her features growing dark, and she throttled Mello instead. He screamed wildly, flailing to try and throw her off. Damn it, he had no idea why she was trying to_ kill_ him. But he had one saving grace: Saix happened to be close. Saix intervened, grabbing Sith and pulling her away effortlessly. Sith screamed an incoherent word and began trying to slash at Saix now. But he restrained her before she even understood what she was truly doing.

When Sith could no longer move, she broke down. She just started sobbing, and there was no way to stop it. Her father was murdered, just like her mother was. Sceppiro, Katt, and their uncle escaped through a stroke of luck and found Sith in Egypt with Bakura and Yami. But they weren't safe. Rath had come after them, had killed their uncle and had forced Sith to do the one thing she didn't want to do, just to give Oblivion some kind of chance in hell at surviving. All of those horrid memories were back. All of the things she didn't want to remember. She just kept crying, and she felt someone holding her through it all. It was a nice feeling, but it didn't take away the pain.

"Sith," someone called her name gently. Saix? Was it Saix? Sith couldn't tell. The pain and fury were just too much. Sceppiro nearly died getting to Egypt. Yami did his best to help, but he was killed, too. And Bakura… Bakura was killed when Zork had been summoned, driven completely mad by Rath's influence. Damn bitch manipulated everyone around Sith just to strike at her. It hurt so badly, so terribly badly.

"Sith," that same someone called again. It _was_ Saix. Why was he still here? Was _he_ another tool in this sick game, too? What if Rath was using him now? What if Rath only made him think he could love her? What if it was just an illusion? Sith wanted no part of it. She pushed herself away from him, but found no purchase. His grip was far too strong. She dug her nails in his arms and tried to slash at him, but he shrugged the pain away and never let go. What trick was this?

"Sith, stop," he said gently. His voice was so calm, even with the pain she was inflicting, that she did stop. She stopped and looked up. What a horror she looked! Her eyes were red-rimmed, those green orbs watered with painful tears. Tears that stained her face and splashed onto her clothes. Saix sighed. He had never had to do anything like this before. He hugged her, buried his face in her hair.

"My father was a good man," she whispered quietly, trying to keep her voice from cracking, "He did what he could. They all did. She killed them all. She should have killed me, too."

"Don't say such things," Saix murmured, "Not in front of your loved ones." Sith was shaking, but at least he was calming her down. Ryou and Mello both watched them, and glanced at each other. Neither wanted to admit it, but they both saw in Saix what they lacked in themselves. Ryou lacked the strength, and Mello lacked the compassion.

'_Will she be okay?_' Ryou asked the blonde, not wanting to physically speak the words and possibly anger Saix. Mello took a breath, watching them both again. Then, he nodded.

'_Sith has a lot of wounds, most of which didn't heal by the time she met me,_' Mello replied seriously, his own eyes watering, '_But she's a tough one. She'll be fine, especially now that she found him._' Ryou had to agree. But he was almost surprised. Why had Mello been so mad at him over Sith, yet he was so forgiving toward Saix?

'_What does this mean for you and Aeon?_' he asked. Mello looked over at him, not quite understanding the question at first. Then he heard the true question, the one that wasn't asked. He smirked a bit.

'_We're still her guardians, as are Bakura, Basch, Matt, Ryuuzaki, and even you,_' Mello told him, '_…I love her and want what's best for her, Ryou. In the end, that's what matters most to me. And look at her. She's finally happy, isn't she?_' Ryou looked, and admitted that she was. She had stopped crying. Saix was with her. Artemis and Victor were with her. Katt was with her. She had her family; most of it, anyway.

Understanding finally why Mello had been so harsh in the past, Ryou said '_That's why you hated me. Sith wasn't happy and you knew it_.' Mello nodded firmly, and Ryou felt himself drop a bit. He had never wanted to hear it, but inside, he knew it was the truth. But seeing how different Sith was when she _was_ happy… oh, hell, it still stung him, still hurt like a bastard. He was just a child, after all. He had gotten in way over his head, and even Sith had said it herself.

'_I always thought that it'd be me she chose as her husband,_' Mello admitted softly, sadly, '_For a while, she probably thought the same, too. But things change, Ryou. We all change_.' Considering how cold Mello could be, that was a bold statement to make. But he understood it. Sith was an Esper Prince. According to Katt, very few of them were even left – the ones that were had to be in severe danger. If all it took for her to be happy was a man like Saix, then Ryou would accept it as graciously as Mello had.

'_What makes you say that?_' Ryou asked him curiously, '_I mean, you don't seem the type to believe in something like that. Last year, you were willing to kill me for Sith._'

'_Sith once said something that I almost disregarded, about twenty two years ago,_' Mello told him, and they turned to face each other fully, momentarily blocking Sith from their view, '_She said that destinies can be altered and threads can be changed in the blink of an eye, so long as we have the courage to do it. I… didn't have the courage to let her go just then. I wasn't ready._' Ryou could very well understand that. Until he learned who Victor truly was, he hadn't been ready, either. And when he learned Saix was the father, he knew there was no hope whatsoever.

'_Seeing Sith happy gave you that courage?_' Ryou asked him. Mello smiled now. It was a genuine smile.

'_Knowing Sith was happy gave me that courage,_' Mello corrected, and glanced toward the couple, '_I don't approve much. I think Saix is harsh and rude. His sarcasm would drive a normal woman completely batty. But Sith loves him, and I know somewhere inside, he loves her too. That's enough for me._' Ryou wished he were as mature. Part of him still didn't want to see Sith leave. Part of him wished he could have what Saix would have, could see what Saix saw. He shook his head.

'_I want that courage, Mello,_' he said sadly. Mello took a deep breath and patted his shoulder. It was a weird gesture, one he'd never thought he'd feel from the older man.

'_You'll get it, in time,_' was the sympathetic reply, '_Ryou, you're still so young. If I were alive, and not some unnaturally-living phantom, I'd be in my forties. Aeon's well into his ten-thousandth year. And Saix… well, who knows how old he is. But it takes time to learn these things. You'll learn. Just let things be._' Ryou nodded. He'd learn. He had a good teacher, and good friends. He smiled back and the two turned again.

"Sith?" Ryou called gently. Sith looked over at him. Her eyes weren't so red anymore. She tilted her head, and he asked, "How're you feeling?"

"Ready to forgive me yet?" Mello added unhelpfully, and when Sith frowned, he said, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. But honestly? He gave you a man's name?"

"He _did_ change it," Sith mumbled, and Mello laughed. That was true enough. _Sith_ was the female variation to _Sicht_, after all. Ryou still couldn't see how the mistake was made, but he decided it was best to just laugh and keep Sith laughing. Laughter always made the pain fade. But they couldn't laugh forever.

Eventually, Sith looked back at the castle. They were still in the World that Never Was. They had to get out. And she knew who could do it. She let go of Saix, and after some convincing, he let go as well. Taking a breath, she looked toward Aeon and asked, "How did you and Mello get here?"

"Same way you did," Aeon replied casually, calmly, snapping his pocket-watch closed, "We went within the sealed memory to try and find you. We found a corridor of darkness instead." No doubt it was the one Axel had left open. Saix gave his old friend a glare, and the red-head in question just grinned and shrugged as if he'd meant to do it. Truth was, he simply forgot about it in the rush of heartless.

"We just jumped right in and hoped we'd catch up before shit hit the fan," Mello ended with a smirk. Sith stared at them both, and Ryou had the distinct impression that she didn't know whether she should congratulate them on traversing the darkness, or shake her head at their stupidity. If Xaldin had caught them, there was a chance neither would have lived. Why be modest? They _wouldn't_ have lived. In the end, she simply laughed. She was glad they were loyal enough to follow her. And that it hadn't killed them yet.

"Couldn't have come at a better time," she stated, and sounded more like her usual self. She walked forward and yawned, realizing now that her little hissy fit took more out of her than she thought. That wasn't good if she planned to escape any time soon. "Can we still use the portal?"

"Er…" Mello's face blanched, and he glanced at the time-keeper, "Think we could?" Ryou felt Sith's annoyance peak, and knew that if they _couldn't_, she'd take her anger out on both of them. Aeon, at least, should've known they'd need an escape hatch. But he seemed more in control than Mello was. He smiled genuinely at Sith, and nodded.

"As a matter of fact, we can," he told her happily, and her anger dropped, "We can go anywhere you need to, but the portal only has so much energy left." Which meant it was a one-way trip. Sith looked at Ryou, and knew how badly he wanted to return to his world and make sure it was all right. Likewise, he knew she wanted to head directly for Nesce before Rath took whatever was left of it. It all came down to who was willing to make the sacrifice.

In the end, it was Sith. She looked at them, all of them. Mello, Matt, and the Nobodies all sided with her, but that was nothing compared to how many people wanted to head to Domino first. And in truth, that might be the better choice for them. If they got a feel for the damage Rath may have caused, it'd prepare them for what lay ahead. Sith sighed, turning to Aeon again. It was clear she did _not_ want to go, yet she still said, "We head to Domino first."

"Sith, are you sure?" Saix asked her seriously. Sith nodded. There would be more corridors, and if she just recovered a little bit, she could open another one, even where Nobodies couldn't.

"Aeon," Sith called firmly, and the time-keeper looked down at her, brow raised, "Let's go." Then, she turned to the four Nobodies among them. She knew Saix was coming whether she wanted him to or not. But she couldn't account for the other three, and so she said, "I'm not asking you all to risk your lives. I understand what will happen."

"Save it, Sith," Axel cut her off, and grinned again, "Look, I know I'm an ass, but Saix is still my friend. And I don't like Xemnas much, anyway. I'm coming with you guys, if only to keep the heartless off your backs." Sith smiled. Somehow, having him there felt appropriate. Then she turned to Zexion and Xigbar. Zexion smiled weakly and shook his head.

"I will meet with you in Nesce," he told her, "There are things you will need me for, and I promise to help you. But I must prepare first." Sith nodded, knowing she could trust him. Out of all of them, save for Saix, she could trust Zexion the most. Last up was Xigbar. He just shrugged.

"Someone's got to stay and make sure Xaldin doesn't go after you," he reasoned calmly, "I've got the best chance of calming the man down. Even if I have to blow his head off to do it!" Sith hoped it wouldn't come down to that, but she did agree that Xigbar's use was better spent in his own realm. Ryou wasn't sure if she simply agreed to keep him out of trouble.

When it was said and done, and all four Nobodies had their plans laid out, it was finally decided. Aeon smiled when Sith joined him by his side, and he waved his hand toward an ordinary patch of dirt. It didn't stay that way; instantly, that black portal swam into vision, along with the traces of darkness trying to break out. Aeon had been right; it'd been weakening for some time now. Sith could only hope it'd hold everyone as they made it through – she knew it wouldn't last soon after. Quietly, she turned to Ryou.

"Are you ready?" she asked him. He bit his lip. He wanted to go home. But he didn't even know what they could be walking into. After a deep breath, he nodded. He'd know very, very soon.

"Whenever you are," he replied. Sith smirked. She was _never_ ready to face the danger ahead. But she did know how to jump right into it. She drew Zealacht, and did just that.

And when she did, thirteen others joined her.

-(End Chapter)

The opposition against Xemnas just keeps adding up as Xigbar turns his back to rescue Ryou from the Castle that Never Was. After they escape from Xaldin, Sith finds out that Rath has gone ten steps further and removed the entire Winchester family from time, erasing most of the good that Sith's family has done for Oblivion. Knowing that puts thousands of worlds, and the throne of Nesce, in danger, Sith must decide whether to stop her cousin or let Ryou's friends go home. In the end, her friendship wins over common sense. But what will they be returning to? How far has Rath gone in their absence? Find out next chapter, so click that Review button!


	15. Preperations for War

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, Kingdom Hearts, Death Note, or Castlevania. I _would_ have, but I might have written a story where Rath kills all of the original owners. Oops.

There had been no heartless waiting for them as they ran down the short corridor. There had been nothing waiting for them, nothing but the crumbling walls as the power of darkness continued to be sapped of strength. Sith and Saix were the fastest, and Ryou kept up between Mello and Aeon, all five of them growing more concerned for the outside as they ran closer to the end of the tunnel. The others were behind by feet, but as long as wherever they were didn't take another bad hit, they would make it through. Ryou looked ahead. The light was growing stronger now. They were almost there. Twenty more feet, then ten, and then…

They burst out of the portal and into the schoolyard. Sith and Saix were breathless, and Ryou had to stop before he ran right into them. Then, he looked up. It was dusk now, the sky a dark orange as the sun began to set. Except that that couldn't be right. It had been midnight in the City that Never Was. It had been nightfall in Egypt. It should have been almost dawn, if anything. But it was dusk, and the air was heavy as the darkness tried to creep back in. Ryou frowned, and looked at his watch. It had stopped working.

Fearing for the worst, he looked around at the surrounding buildings. Nothing had been destroyed. But there was a feeling of emptiness that made him shudder. Narrowing his eyes, he tried to sharpen his psychic senses, like he had in the World that Never Was. He couldn't break through. He couldn't ask Aeon what was wrong. He sighed. This wasn't looking too good.

"It's not supposed to be dusk," he heard Mello comment, as the last of their team poured out of the portal. Immediately, it crumbled and disappeared entirely behind them all. Mello snorted and added, "And we're not going back, either."

"Is she here?" Sith asked, but knew the answer already. Physically, Rath wasn't in this world. But she had been through here already. Sith could smell the psychic stench of evil in the air.

"No, but she left behind some presents," Bakura grumbled, and pointed to what looked like thin air. Sith and Ryou both looked, both trying to figure out what he meant. Then, Ryou saw something. Little, black dots, barely visible, swimming in the air. They were frantic, and they were all over the place.

"What _are_ those?" he whispered, as he heard Miho shriek and say, "B-bugs?"

"Not bugs. Those are fragments of the abyss," Saix told them grimly, nose twitching, "Damn it, she's torn her way through the barriers in this world, Sith. The void is coming in." Sith already knew that, judging by the harsh gleam in her eyes. Her ears were stiffened nearly flat against her head, and her one wing ruffled furiously.

"She torn them open when she couldn't find us," Sith replied breathlessly, and looked at Ryou and the others. None of them knew what to make of any of this, so she said, "When the darkness of Oblivion comes through to one world, that world becomes twisted and any number of things can happen. It doesn't _look_ different, but something is just ever so off. You can feel it." And they did, too. But the problem was, only the three spirits were as psychically honed as Sith and her friends were. The others couldn't grasp what the problem actually was.

"What'll happen to ours?" Malik asked her seriously. Sith's look became almost distant, almost regretful.

"Your world is far weaker in resistance. When a world is torn open, if it isn't strong enough, it crosses into a different realm, into _Ewigen Abgrund_ – a realm even beyond Oblivion that consists of nothing but lost souls and rotting worlds," Sith finally explained, and Ryou's face went white, "As it stands, look around you. Notice that there are no people, and that silence is our only greeting."

"So everyone's just _dead!_" Jou rephrased. Sith's lips curled into a cruel smile. Not even she could feel any mirth from that statement.

"Not quite," she said calmly, "Ewigen Abgrund, the Endless Abyss, is a world with no color and no sound. There is no life. As this world passes through what little barriers remain that keep it in Oblivion, all life will eventually begin to degrade. The people of this world are turning into spirits, though they have not yet died."

"What does that _mean_, Sith?" Malik pushed in exasperation, and threw his arms up, "Are we walking into a cemetery? Will anyone even recognize us?" Sith stared at him for a long moment, and he became painfully aware that she was giving him the answer without saying anything. And he hated when she did that.

"No one can see or speak with us," she said after too long a pause, "In fact, they don't even know what's happened. Those caught outside have been dragged through the tears, and they _are_ dead. But the ones inside the buildings… I fear for them." Ryou shook his head. His father could be gone! Amane could be missing, too! And it all happened in less than two days. It wasn't fair.

"Why can't they see us?" Miho asked Sith, before Ryou fully digested what she said. Sith looked down, and let her blade touch the dirt.

"Rath has removed Katt and I from time," Sith replied uneasily, "Because this is a race between me and her, and because of your loyalty to me, any interactions _you_ make are negated as well, until what she's done has been fixed." Ryou couldn't see how what Rath did could be fixed, but there had to be a way. No world could just blink out of existence like that! His eyes watered. That wasn't true. Sith's world had. That was why she'd come to his world so long ago, why her father had been slain.

"Sith… we need to see what's become of our lives," Kaiba said, and Sith turned to him. Normally, he would've had a sarcastic remark to display, but he sounded sincere now, "We all have siblings and families. They can't all possibly be gone." His voice shook, and Sith knew he was terrified for Mokuba. Bringing them back may have been a bigger mistake than she realized. Now, she had to let it unfold. She nodded.

"All of you… go and see for yourselves," she said quietly, without looking at them. They heard the tremble in her voice, too. This was the second time she'd see a world torn to pieces. It must've been killing her, on the inside.

Everyone who came from Domino left within ten minutes, leaving Sith with only Saix. Axel, Mello, and Matt left to help some of the others, Victor and Artemis went with Ryou, and Aeon took Basch, thinking it best that everyone get some space. Sith did not move, she simply kept her eyes on the ground, her breathing as steady as it could be. Even after all of this, even after releasing the five spells of Kratz, Rath still managed to win. Even after all of the punishment and hatred she bore for what happened, Sith had to deal with the loss of millions again. She was close to her breaking point.

"It all seems so… useless now," she whispered, the wind rustling her hair as she stared at the dirt, "Everything I've done. Everything I've wanted. It's slipping out of my hands. And she's taking it from me."

"She hasn't taken _me_ yet," Saix reminded her firmly, and Sith looked up. He was frowning at her, but his look wasn't as harsh as usual. She hated that look. It normally meant he pitied her. She shook her head.

"She will try, you mark my words on it," she said bitterly. Saix sighed. Rath would _have_ to go if he had any hope for a life with Sith. Otherwise, it would be wrought with fear: her fear of Rath dragging him away and never letting him leave. He didn't want her to live with that fear.

He turned away for a moment, looking at the black dots. More and more were coming. This world was passing too quickly. Gently, he said, "Even if she does, don't you understand I would fight her?"

"My father tried and it murdered him," Sith reminded him, and he turned to face her, "Saix… she's killed both of my parents. She's nearly killed my brother. I won't take it if she gets her hands on you. Even if you fight, she can kill you." She was speaking faster than either of them wanted, bordering on panic again. He walked up to her and laid both hands on her shoulders. She wasn't shaking yet, but she was definitely terrified.

"She _won't_ kill me," he said sternly, and smiled when she nodded so slowly, "Especially if I go berserk on her. _She_ will be the one pinned down by fear, not you. I'll even go so far as to rip her heart out and give it to you if you asked." He chuckled when Sith's face contorted into disgust. That was going a bit too far. But at least it got her to feel a little bit better. She shook her head, and then sighed.

"You're getting too good at knowing what will make me laugh," she commented slyly, and grinned up at him, "Haven't you noticed this, too?" He nodded. He gave her a pat on the head, and then looked up at the sky. The unnatural twilight. If only the moon were out.

"My guess is, our own timelines are colliding because of what Rath is doing," he suggested quietly, "The future your friends went to seems to be instilled in our memories even if it hasn't happened yet." Sith did seem to know some things about him she hadn't remembered asking before, and likewise, he really was too good at reading her – for the amount of time he knew her, anyway. And they both knew too much about their own sons, considering they weren't even married yet.

"What will happen when Rath is dead?" she wondered aloud, and he knew she was asking him on purpose. He hadn't actually thought about that one; marrying Sith had seemed something he'd do after a few years. After Sith recovered from the inevitable injuries, and after he'd given Xemnas some time to cool down. Now he knew he'd have to think about it. If time were 'fixed,' he wouldn't have much reason to marry Sith, and might not even remember his sons. But could time really destroy the memories they did have? Even if he was a Nobody?

"Nothing will change," he decided after a moment's thought, and looked down at her, "Even if Kingdom Hearts gives me my heart, and the memories I've made as a Nobody fade, I'll find you again. I've found you once before."

"How will you know where to look?" she asked him curiously, the smile fading from her face, "Saix, I won't be here once this is through. I'll go to Nesce with my brother and sister." Then the answer was simple enough. He'd find a way to get to Nesce. He shrugged it off. To him, it wasn't a problem.

"Then it'll be your siblings that I'll plow through to find you," he answered simply with a grin, "Sith, you're worrying too much. Are you really afraid you're going to lose everything?" Sith laid her head against his shoulder. She knew she was worrying far more about _herself_ than she normally did. But, damn it, this wasn't a joke anymore. She nearly lost her heart and her sanity because of Rath's foolishness.

"I've already lost everything once," she mumbled, and then seriously said, "Saix… yes. Yes… I am. I can't do it again. I can't crawl out of the ashes and become a hero again. I'm just… I'm just too old!" Saix howled with laughter. She certainly didn't look that old, but he knew her age all too well. Zexion himself warned him about 'loving' an 'older' woman. How Zexion understood the peril, however, he hadn't quite understood.

"My dear, you don't look a day past thirty," he teased her. Her eyes narrowed at him. That was just being an ass.

"I'd like to hope _not_, since I'm supposed to be _twenty-three_ in this world," she reminded him sharply. But, like always, such things didn't even nip his habit in the bud. His grin grew broad, too broad.

"Good gods of Ansem, you're that old already?" he asked. And that, unsurprisingly, earned him a slap across his face.

It was a good hour or two before Sith forgave Saix enough to warrant looking at him when he finally called her. By that time, no one had come back, and he was growing a little worried about the delay. Domino was _big_, no doubt, but surely everyone lived relatively close to the proximity they were in. He told her his worry, and when he did, she forgot her anger entirely and realized he was right. Blazing swords, it'd been far too long! She looked up quickly. The sky was still bathed in orange. It should have set by now. Her expression went grim. Damn Zellos, if any of them _died_…

"Saix, let's go," she growled, and drawing her sword, she ran down the road she knew would take her straight to Ryou's house. Saix let out a howl and ran after her, Lunatic in his hands before he rounded the bend.

They were at the yard within twenty six minutes. It had been eerily quiet, and Sith had seen that the city was growing worse the deeper they went in. But she was surprised nothing had yet spawned to try and stop them. Rath had come, but she was in too much of a hurry to leave more than torn fragments. That was good. That left some hope for her friends. But as they stepped onto the walk, and looked upon the house, there was just this feeling of worry inside of Sith. Why _was_ it taking them so long?

The door was unlocked, and Sith slipped inside without a sound. Saix was right beside her, and for a long moment, they stood in the foyer, listening. There were no sounds coming from the upstairs, or from the kitchen. And she couldn't see Ryou in the living room or the dining room. She turned to Saix and motioned for him to remain quiet. He nodded, and she pointed out the dining room, bathroom, closet, and kitchen. When he understood she wanted _him_ to check those rooms, she moved to the second floor. Perhaps Ryou had simply fallen asleep.

That wasn't the case. Ryou wasn't in his room, nor was Bakura in his own. The guest room was empty, and though she found Yaten in his study, she knew there was no point in conversing with the man. He would not hear her. Now she was _really_ concerned. Ryou should have known better than to run off without giving her some notice. At the very least, he'd have sent Victor back, but neither of her sons were around, either. There would be hell to pay if anything bad happened.

Yet, when she passed the sealed door to Amane's old room, she stopped. And she looked at the door. There was a different scent in that room, different from the stench of evil she smelled outside and downstairs. The scent of life. _Ryou's_ scent! Ryou was in there, she knew it. But why had he hidden in his sister's bedroom? Biting her lip, and knowing the boundary she may be crossing, she knocked on the door and called, "Ryou?"

"Sith?" was the gentle reply. Ryou looked through the keyhole and saw indeed that it was Sith, and he opened the door. He beamed. Sith was exactly the person he wanted to see, and he said, "Dear gods, I was worried you were waiting!"

"We _were_," Sith pointed out in frustration, and Ryou's smile vanished, "When Saix told me how long we'd been standing there, I knew it was time to drag your arse outside. So we came to do that." Ryou's eyes widened. Saix had told her how long he'd been gone. That meant…

"Saix is _here?_" he asked, and Sith nodded, crossing her arms as she shifted her weight toward the doorframe. She could see Artemis inside of the room, and knew Victor was there, too.

"Good. Send the old man up here," Artemis said rather rudely, and Sith stared long and hard before he realized he was speaking to _his mother_, "M-mom! When did you get here!" Sith wasn't in too much mood to play, and he knew it. She jerked her head toward the descending steps.

"We've been here, and the _old man _is downstairs. And trust me, he's even more pissed than I am," she replied firmly, "Your father doesn't appreciate being worried about you both. Why didn't one of you at least call and let me know you were okay?" Ryou snorted. That sounded like a typical motherly thing to ask, and to hear it from Sith was just classic. Artemis just moaned. He certainly didn't find it that funny. Victor was in better spirits.

"We tried. The power lines are all down," Victor said to her. Sith's brow rose, and she took out her cell phone. She dialed Ryuuzaki's number… but nothing happened. Putting her phone away, she ran into Yaten's room and tried the house number. Still no response. She sighed softly. There was no way to contact anyone. She should've known when she walked into a dark house to begin with.

She went back to Ryou and said, "I'm just glad you all are okay. How are things here? Did your father even…" Ryou shook his head before the question was finished. Sith frowned and gave him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder.

"You were right. We can't talk to anyone from this plane," he replied, as he moved to let her in the room, "But we did find out something else. I can still speak to Amane." Sith stopped, turned, and stared, mouth agape. _That_ was why he was in here. Now that was just interesting. She turned again, and found the little girl in question sitting on the sill. Amane waved to Sith, and then hopped off.

"Ryou told me that some bad stuff happened and daddy can't see him anymore," Amane told her innocently, and Sith knelt down to be at the girl's eye level, "Sithy, what's going on? Everything outside is all orange and scary, and I don't like it!" Sith smiled weakly. Explaining this to Ryou was much different than explaining it to his sister. How could one explain the deathly abyss to a six-year-old girl?

"I don't either, dear. Yes, very bad things happened while we were gone, and I'm sorry we had to leave," Sith said gently, and Amane hugged her, "But we're back now, and we're going to make sure these bad things stop." Amane sniffled, and Ryou just watched them. He had never seen Amane so scared or so demure before. He partly wished he had mystical blood just so he could comfort her, too. At least Sith could fill that role – for now.

"Is it because of those Mystics again?" Amane asked her, looking up. Sith sighed. This had to end. It was only _one_ Mystic, but that _one_ was the very reason that magic was feared and hated.

"Yes, it is a Mystic," Sith replied calmly, and smiled, "But this is the last one. After I defeat her, no more will ever bother you or your city again." Amane smiled, and it was so sincere, it was so _unlike_ her. Ryou realized, and so did Sith, that it would be more than just their friends who would feel the blow of Sith's departure. Sith did not want to leave the little girl behind, not when she was one of the few who could actually see her.

"Kill her, Sithy!" Amane said seriously, her brows creasing like they normally did when she was about to kick Ryou's ass, "Kill her and save our world! Just like you did when you first came here!" Sith's mouth fell open again. She had _never_ said anything about her past to Amane. How did the girl even know she'd been here _before_?

"Amane, how… how did you know I've been here?" she asked, taking a step back, "Who told you?"

"I did," came a deep growl, and Sith spun, sword in hand. She came face to face with a giant, silver wolf with piercing golden eyes, and a crest of some sort on his forehead. And, he was even bigger than Dithrambus had been. What she was staring at was…

"_Fenrir!_" she gasped, not sure whether she should be shocked that he was there at all, or that he fit in the room with them. She put her sword away instantly. Even if she was a Prince, insulting a God that outranked you was still a crime. But for once, Fenrir's normally-surly attitude was gone. His mouth curled into what passed as a smile, for a large wolf.

"Sith," he replied calmly, and laid on his stomach, "I never thought I would see you in person again."

"Why are you here?" Sith asked him, that question being first and foremost in her mind. Ryou stared between the two Espers, and noticed that Fenrir was almost amused. He snorted, a deep sound within his muzzle. Then, he turned toward the sky. Toward the twilight outside.

"To help you. Rath is tearing worlds apart trying to find you," the wolf replied simply, and glanced at her with one large eye, "Sith… we need you back on the throne. She's heading straight to Nesce, and intends to take the crown of your ancestor."

"We already know this," Sith said to him, and now he looked amused, "We're tying up loose ends here, and then I'm going to Nesce and ending this game permanently." That was a blunt way of putting it. But it seemed to put the old wolf at ease for a second. He growled, tapping a paw on the floor. It thundered like a storm, but Yaten did not notice at all.

"Loose ends are tied, Sith. Rath has removed every piece you have in your game. All you can do is face her yourself," Fenrir told her after a few minutes of silence. Sith said nothing. Neither did Ryou. Did that mean she'd have to fight Rath alone? Saix would never let it happen, and neither would Mello or Aeon. Ryou didn't want it happening period.

"You mean she has to go _alone!_" Ryou demanded, and Fenrir looked over. For a minute, their eyes locked. All of the uncomfortable feelings Ryou had regarding the wolf before came rushing back. He hadn't forgotten what happened to Mello when they first met this beast. But Fenrir wasn't in the mood to kill.

"I never said this," Fenrir pointed out, and looked out the window again, "But only Sith's bloodline can put an end to Rath's terror. As for support, she is free to take anyone she chooses." Which would, hopefully, be most of their friends. Sith smiled and looked toward the stairs. At the very least, she was taking Saix and they'd either both live, or both die. That gave her an odd comfort. Fenrir just chuckled and said, "We know of your husband, Sith."

"What?" Sith asked, brows raised, "You… _how!_"

"Because _he_ let me in," the wolf retorted smugly, and grinned again, "He is protective and harsh, and will definitely put you in what he considers 'your place.' That will be good for you. He is a good mate for you." Sith blushed heavily, and stammered as she tried to find anything else to say. But to hear it made her feel like a child! _Saix_ was far younger than her!

"_I_ will put him in _his_ place, too!" Sith finally managed to exclaim, but it sounded so… untrue, "_I_ am an Esper _Prince!_" Fenrir's smile never faded, and soon, Artemis and Victor were grinning, too. They didn't believe her! None of them thought she could out-place Saix! Growling, she said, "You don't believe me."

"Should they, when I'm clearly stronger than you?" came a whisper in her ear, and she nearly screamed when she realized Saix was _right behind_ her. He already had his arms around her by the time she registered it, which was something he shouldn't have been doing – he _should_ have been downstairs, _waiting_. Gently, he said, "You are a Prince. You are also stubborn and foolish, and you need a good husband who will kick your ass when even the other Espers _won't_." Sith wanted to growl. Damn it, he sounded like Fenrir. And he was _proud_ of it! Ryou could see that Fenrir approved.

"Why aren't you _downstairs?_" Sith could only ask that. Saix's grin was feral, and he nuzzled her hair. She did _not_ like that. Not at the moment, when she was being teased by both Saix _and_ Fenrir.

"Because this seemed far more enjoyable," he admitted, and when Sith glared, he said, "I've had a lot of practice being an ass to Axel and the other Nobodies, dear. This is only the beginning." Ryou could just see Saix's sons grinning at each other. This was probably the kind of thing Sith didn't want to be caught dealing with when they were 'in the house.' Which meant Saix didn't even care if they saw how much of an annoyance he was. Still grinning, he said, "Artemis, do you think your mother is a fool?"

"Definitely," Artemis replied with the same damn grin. Sith would have lost it, if Saix weren't holding her. No, that wasn't true. Sith did lose it. She slapped Saix across his face. But instead of retaliating or berating her, he just howled with laughter. Fenrir finally stood, shaking his head. When he had been in a different form… he was much the same way with _his_ wife. Sith's heart chose a good mate indeed.

"It is about time we get going, _children_," he reminded them, nearly crawling on his belly to get out through the door, "Your friends are already outside. They've been with me. Come out when you are done making fools of yourselves." Saix's laughter grew, and even Ryou found himself laughing. Poor Sith, she didn't even know why she was being teased. The only thing that took the sting of it away was that Saix was holding her close and it was clear he did care.

Sighing, and shaking his head, Ryou said, "Well, I'll go down and make sure the team's good and ready. Artemis, Victor, let's go." He stood outside waiting, and didn't object when Amane stormed out, mumbling that it was _her_ room and that Saix was a big moron. Artemis grinned at his parents. So did Victor.

"Yeah, let's let mom and dad have some time alone," Victor joked, as Artemis said, "I don't want another baby brother." Sith was on the verge of screaming at them, but both boys inherited her wisdom. They were down the stairs and out the door before Ryou knew it. He blinked profusely. They were in serious trouble, and they _knew_ it. Respectfully, he kept his distance and went to see his father one last time before they left.

Sith and Saix just stood there, looking at each other. Sith was annoyed, confused, and… well, _completely dumbfounded_ with what just transpired. Saix was just amused, and was grinning like a moron. A moron who was with the one woman he loved, and knew she was pissed as hell because of his big mouth. They stood there for what felt like a long time, but it wasn't more than a few moments. Finally, Sith sighed, and Saix let his arms drop a little. Sith wasn't free yet.

Looking up at him, she asked, "Is there anything you want to know before we go out and get ourselves killed?" Saix nodded.

"I want to know that through this, you'll let me protect you," Saix told her seriously, his grin fading, "I should have done so when Xemnas wanted to take you from me. I was weak, too weak to fight him off." Sith nodded. She could do that. She knew he'd succeed now.

"Anything else?" she asked him. This time, that was a mistake. His grin returned again, and Sith didn't like it. She would've backed away… but he had her trapped! Damn it, he hadn't let go on purpose!

"I want to know what a kiss is," he replied easily, and before she said _anything_, he pulled her close and kissed her.

Ryou walked out of his father's room. He had said nothing, but he promised himself he would save his world and keep his father save from the threat he never knew about. He owed the man at least that – Yaten had raised him, after all, and it was Yaten who allowed Ryou to be a true warrior to Sith. Even if he hadn't known it. So, it was comforting to see his father in his study, working like usual. When Sith had said that people were turning into spirits, he half-expected to find Yaten cowering, wondering what happened. He found, instead, that his father was working on a new exhibit for the museum. And it was good to see.

But when he passed the open door into Amane's room, Ryou stopped and looked inside. What he found shocked him far more than seeing Yaten working. He found Saix kissing Sith so passionately, he had to look away. He already felt his cheeks burning with embarrassment. He had no idea what Sith was feeling, but he felt all sorts of emotion from Saix – most of it was elation and a burning desire to _not let go_ of Sith. It was only funny because he was a _Nobody_ and shouldn't have felt a damn thing. But, gods be damned, his feelings were knocking the wind out of Ryou!

Before Saix let go of her, Ryou went down the stairs and out the door, not wanting them to know he'd just seen the beginning of Artemis's fate. And when Saix _did_ let go, Sith's cheeks were crimson and her eyes were glazed. She felt dizzy and light-headed and… oh, good lord, what did that fool just do to her! She took off her glasses to try and clear her head, but when she put them back on, her vision was still swimming. But she did see Saix. He was still grinning at her, but his eyes had this lazy look to them. At least he'd let go, so she could run if he ever tried that again. Or at least kick him in the face.

"Are you done?" she managed to ask, when her thoughts were coherent enough to form words. Saix's grin was too feral, too hungry for her liking. He was leashing it, though, which meant he knew he was on thin ice already.

"For now," he replied simply. Then he looked at Sith more closely. She was _really_ dizzy. He had considered one more kiss, and then decided he'd done enough to her. Wisely, he reminded himself that she was still mad at him, and that they had people waiting for them outside. And that he was still a Nobody. And that… oh, _hell_ with it! He bent over, kissed her lightly, and repeated, "For now."

Everyone was waiting for them in Ryou's yard by the time they went outside. Sith would've thought it was nighttime out, but dusk was still setting and there was no way to tell the actual time; even Aeon's watch stopped working. But it must not have been too long a time, for no one asked her what had taken her so long. Nor was she going to give an answer. The less talking she had to do, the more she could clear her dizzy head and make sense of everything that was happening, most of all being Saix and his mood swings. No, that wasn't right. First she wanted to stop Rath. _Then_ she would worry about Saix later, when it was more convenient. All she had to do was see that he was still grinning like a grand, old fool to know it was _not_ convenient to worry right then.

Fenrir waited patiently for her, and stood up when she approached. She looked around for a moment before she addressed him – she wanted to see if this world could take fending for itself for a while. The black dots seemed even more erratic than before, and the energy in the world shifted slightly to be more… fritz than anything. But other than that, and the unsettling twilight above, nothing had changed. They probably had some more time. She looked from the sky, to the large, silver wolf. He was watching her, waiting for some sort of answer to an unasked question.

"Is everyone ready?" she asked, turning from Fenrir, to the group at large. Everyone who had been there before was there now. Thirteen people nodded. Smiling grimly, she added, "You understand that this is the final battle. Once we go in, we're not going to come out until this is through."

"You tell us that all the time, and we come out just fine," Malik reminded her, "We're ready, Sith. We're waiting for _you_." Sith blinked for a minute. Then she realized he was right. This was the fourth time she had this conversation with them. But it felt more definite to her. Maybe it was simply that she understood _she_ would die if she failed. The others might be able to escape.

"Then… I suppose we simply go," she said quietly, and turned again to the wolf, "Fenrir, it's time." Fenrir stood up and shook his massive head, letting loose a growl. He stiffened from having to wait, and it was uncomfortable to have to stretch out so quickly. He yawned, and then lowered himself to let them onto his back.

Before they left, Sith took out her flute and called Dithrambus again. The large, black Erul came instantly, and this time, she wasn't alone. Rush, Sith's dog, was also with her, coming in a swirling mist of red rather than black. It made sense, once Ryou realized why. He had always thought Rush was a bit big to be an Akita, like Sith insisted, but when he saw Rush appear in a blaze of fire, he understood Rush wasn't a _dog_. Rush was a _hellhound_. Sith definitely had some interesting tastes in pets.

When everyone was summoned and the team was ready, Fenrir threw back his head and howled. The shockwave sent ripples in the air, and crumbled the nearest building – thankfully, it was Ryou's neighbor's house and not his own! Then, those ripples began to form a distorted pocket of air, which swirled and looped until it became a portal of orange light. Fenrir growled, and leapt right in. Dithrambus and Rush followed him.

It was unlike any portal Ryou had been through before. The second they were in… they were out again. There was no darkness and no tunnel. It was like diving through a window, only instead of another scene of dusk, nighttime had settled into this world. Ryou knew, like with his own world, time had been frozen and that it was an eternal night. He could just barely see a large castle looming, the city below sprawling in all directions. It all looked… so dark.

"Where the hell is this!" Ryuuzaki yelled over the wind. Fenrir was diving and rolling to avoid slamming into the many bridges and walls of the castle, and it was making it difficult to do anything other than scream and hang on.

"We've got to be in Nesce!" Katt yelled back, and grabbed Yugi's shoulder before the boy was thrown clean off the wolf's back. Fenrir grunted as another gust of wind buffeted him in the chest, and for a minute, he was thrown upwards and off-balance. Then he regained his composure and was descending again. This time, he was going slowly. Slow enough for them to see they were within the outer wall of the castle and were heading toward the city – which sector, though, they couldn't say.

"Wait… _Nesce?_" Malik repeated in disbelief, "Your world! We're here!"

"Where did you _think_ we were going?" Kaiba snapped furiously, brows creased in frustration as he held onto Anzu before she slid off Fenrir. Malik just grunted. He knew they were going somewhere, he just hadn't thought it'd be the very world Sith and Katt came from.

"More importantly, where the hell are we _landing?_" Mello asked, as Malik made a rather unnecessary hand gesture to Kaiba. He looked at Aeon seriously and said, "We're passing the castle."

"We can't necessarily land in the courtyard. There could be Mystics waiting to ambush us," Aeon reminded him, and looked down, "But we're passing the _Strae-Gebäude_, too." Ryou looked, and saw many manors and gardens dotting the city as they flew by, and then those manors gave way to smaller homes and shops some miles away. He just wished they were lower so he could see more of it. They looked like small, indistinguishable squares from here.

"Fenrir," Sith said quickly, firmly. Fenrir glanced back at her, and descended further.

"We're nearly there, Sith," he replied, and turned in a half circle as he continued the rest of his flight. He was going to land.

He landed in a communal garden in the poorer section of the city. At least, it had once been a garden. Now, it was overgrown with weeds and the lights had long since burned out and been discarded. The fountains did not run, and the trees were dead. The three walls that surrounded most of the garden looked like looming, black canvases of death amidst the bare trunks and dry creeks. Ryou could hear bats screeching and flapping about, and as he and Sith dismounted, he saw that much of the garden was dead. Even the weeds didn't survive. The walk was broken apart, but from what he did see, even the 'poor' part of the city knew the beauty of mosaics and of nature.

But none of that mattered. It was gone now, the garden a cemetery of what it once was, so long ago. The air was damp and chill, and the wind howled occasionally above, knocking wisps of clouds away and revealing the dim stars of the Esper world. There was no moon. And to make matters worse, those horrible black dots were within this world, as well. But they were bigger now, as big as snowflakes, and they drifted upwards slowly. This city was being devoured.

Ryou noticed there was a distant look in Sith's eyes, a dark look he didn't find comforting. From the moment she stepped onto the dirt, she was looking not at the garden, but at the un-walled street beyond. She walked toward it, ignoring the garden altogether, and headed toward the buildings closest by. They were shops and small homes – they looked like they had been beautiful once, and Ryou wondered if the Espers' sense of 'poor' was even based on a human's sense or not – but they had been abandoned for thousands of years now. The structures still stood, as they were made of a substance much finer than wood and much stronger, but the windows were caked with webs and dust, and she could smell the mold from the street.

Sith looked down the road, where it bended and vanished behind more shops. The street lamps had been disregarded for as long as the buildings. There, she saw a corner shop that caught her attention above all else. Curiously, she walked toward it, and looked at it, at the window. From what she could see, there was a wooden counter, and glass displays of what had once been pastries. They were nothing now; maggots and mold had claimed what the people of Nesce did not. Sith remembered this store. Not the name, but she remembered clearly that her brother had loved this store, had gone in with two hundred _pennons_ – the common currency within Nesce - and had come back with none once. Their father was not pleased, and had scolded Sceppiro for it. But he did share his snacks with his sisters. Sith remembered that.

But it was all a shell. That memory did not bring a smile to the Esper's face. Instead, it brought a frown, and it brought tears. Sith was not looking at a pastry store, and was not going to go in with her brother and spend their allowances on things they shouldn't be eating. She was looking at ruins. Ruins of what her kingdom had once been, of what she had let her world become. She was looking at what Rath would do to her city, to what people she did have left.

She was looking at her hometown. She was looking at Aeroglyph.

-(End Chapter)

After saying their goodbyes to Domino, Ryou and the others head to the final battlefield to stop Rath before Oblivion devours their worlds. Instead, they are greeted with a scene similar to what they saw in Domino – Nesce is being swallowed up just as Domino is! Rath's madness must end before she destroys the only hope left to stop her. But can Sith find her and kill her in time? Can Ryou and the others protect her while she accomplishes this? Can they finally save the world from the mad Mystic? Find out next chapter, so click that Review button!


	16. Aeroglyph: The Kingdom of Darkness

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, Death Note, Kingdom Hearts, or Castlevania. Takahashi owns Yu-Gi-Oh, Konami owns Castlevania, Square-Enix owns Kingdom Hearts, and Ohba owns Death Note. And may our forefathers roll in their graves at their new replacements.

Aeroglyph. She was looking at the ruins of Aeroglyph. It had been three thousand years since she had been here, three thousand years where her world rotted and turned into a vacuous waste of… of _nothing_. There were no people, and there were no demons or vampires. No hellhounds or Eruls, no Agmin or Pyrolisks. Just… _nothing_. Nothing but empty buildings, cemeteries, and the husks of what once was the greatest kingdom in Nesce. She doubted even the spirits of the dead remained. If they had, it was to remind her of the failure she had brought to her own throne. As though her existence hadn't said well enough about _that_.

Backing away from the shop, she turned and looked down the bend. More devastation, more emptiness and death. Unkempt yards and dilapidated houses decorated the new street, and the smell of rot and decay was strong. Blood, formed on the cobble thousands of years before, permanently stained the streets in patches and splotches. Here, obviously, fighting had gone on. Not surprising, seeing as how many of the houses here were _homes_, as opposed to the shops and garden before. Sith shivered and withdrew again. How many people had died here? How many had she ignored?

There was nowhere to go but further in. No matter which road she took, she'd see the destruction of her world. Sith wrapped her arms around herself gently and shivered again. She couldn't possibly see it all and not go mad. Ryou was there, though, and she felt him lay a hand on her back to help steady her. That was good. She felt like she was going to collapse if someone didn't help her soon.

"Sith, are you going to be okay?" he asked gently. Sith opened her mouth to speak, and then closed it. The truth was, she wasn't. This was her _homeland_, and this was what she was fighting for. Rath had taken it and twisted it, turned it into an unnatural field of paranoia and terror. She let Oblivion have its way and leave the shell behind it.

"Too much," Sith whispered, her eyes unfocusing, "Too much. She's done too much."

"We'll get her, Sith," Malik promised, coming up on her left to support the weight Ryou couldn't. She let him pick her up and set her down on the remains of a half-battered bench. It was smeared with dried blood, but it was better than sitting in the filth of the streets.

"How could I have never known?" Sith asked them, though she didn't expect a reply, "How could I walk away and let her do this to Aeroglyph!" Fenrir marched up the street like a silent shadow of doom, and sat when he reached the bench. Even in the city of the Espers, he was nearly as tall as a small shop.

"You had no choice but to, once we dealt you your fate," the old wolf pointed out seriously, his voice almost a comfort to her as she looked up at him, "Sith… we knew what would become of our world. That is why we could not kill you. We needed you to destroy her, but only after you attained your lost power." Sith turned away sharply and said nothing. So even _she_ was just a pawn in this game. She wasn't a queen, nor was she the _Prince_ she wanted to be. She was just Sith. A nameless pawn.

"A power she wouldn't have lost if you hadn't interfered at all!" Mello snapped, and Fenrir turned. He had forgotten how many he'd brought here. Now he thought about how he had wanted to eat Mello, so many years before. He should have done so.

"_We_ did not take Sith's power," he growled forcefully, "The orbs that held the forbidden spells did. Absorbed it like they absorb all energy around them. That was not our doing!"

"Exiling her sure helped, though, didn't it!" Mello spat. Then he felt a firm hand on his shoulder, and found himself spun around and facing Saix before he even knew what had happened. And Saix wasn't happy.

"Shut up," was the furious command, "You're only making things worse. Now shut up and let us find a way to _help_ Sith before you get yourself killed." Mello glared at him, but Saix just sneered. In a battle, Ryou had a feeling Saix would take Mello down quite easily. Obviously, Mello agreed. He grunted and turned away.

"Stupid dog," he mumbled. Saix's response was to turn around and kick him so quickly that Mello went spinning into a tree. He promptly fell and did not get up again. Ryou just snorted, trying not to laugh. That was typical Mello. He just hoped Saix wouldn't make kicking him a habit.

Curious as to what Fenrir said, Ryou looked up at him and asked, "So you knew the whole time that Nesce would be destroyed?" Fenrir nodded slowly.

"It is not something we are proud of, Ryou Bakura," he assured the boy seriously, and looked down at his paws, "But, through time, there have been events that cause rifts in the balance of power. People are born that could either bring the world to justice, or cause it to fall into the bowels of corruption. Sith and Rath are two such people, sworn to kill each other as complete opposites." Ryou looked at Sith. He had always thought Katt was her opposite – after all, Katt was kind, whereas Sith was rather harsh and unyielding. Then he understood the bigger picture. Both of them were still 'good.'

"Good versus evil," Ryou murmured, and Fenrir nodded in agreement. Of course, it was still a grander scale than that, but he was getting the idea.

"Sith would bring our world to a new level of peace and justice, just as her father had," Fenrir told them, and looked up at the twisted castle. Even here, he could see the broken window Sith had used to escape, millennia before, "Rath, on the other hand, would do the opposite. She would lead us to chaos and paranoia, mania and dementia." Ryou understood it now. Order versus mania, law versus chaos. But… Sith? She was no law-abiding citizen by any means. How could she possibly do so much?

"So when you said the victor will change the face of Oblivion, you really weren't kidding," Ryuuzaki commented, looking around, "Wow, and to think I thought this was a pile of bullshit." Ryou caught Sith's glare, and wondered how loyal Ryuuzaki was to the cause. But he needn't worry. Ryuuzaki looked Sith right in the eye. He wasn't even daunted by the fact that she was angry with him. He had the guts he needed.

"You didn't believe me?" Sith asked, and Ryuuzaki frowned a bit. It wasn't as simple as _that_, though he wished it had been.

"No, but I didn't think _anyone_ was capable of _this_," he replied, gesturing toward the castle ruins, "Sith, this is an Esper _world_. Espers are the strongest race in existence, and look what's happened here. I had to see it to understand." Sith's anger slowly receded. And sadness began to replace it. Yes, the Espers were incredibly strong… Rath wiped that strength away in less than ten thousand years, and rendered most of the ancient bloodlines helpless. Now the royal line was next, if not completely eradicated. She still had seen no sign of Sceppiro, and Katt didn't have that much power to begin with.

"Do you think there are any Esper here?" Yugi asked, "In Nesce?" Sith and Ryuuzaki looked at him, and then glanced at each other. The possibility was small, but perhaps there were some stragglers. Most would be mercenaries by now, but if they knew Sith was here…

"If there are, they'd be closer to the castle," Sith finally answered, negating the very thing Ryuuzaki would've said, which would have been 'no.' He stared at her, mouth agape. There had been no sign of life _here_; what made her think the castle was any different?

"Why there!" he blurted, sounding more rude than he meant to be. Sith glanced at him, a cross between annoyance and amusement on her face.

"Any Espers still living here would be _Strae_ – nobility. They would have enough power to fight anything that comes through the castle gates, and if they already know Rath is here, then they'll try and fight her, too," Sith replied calmly, and looked up toward the towers poking into the heavens, "If we're lucky… their caste would be even higher and be _Princes_, like me."

"Would they help you?" Kaiba asked her seriously, coming up toward the bench and sitting next to her, "It sounds like they blame you for what's happened. What's stopping them from killing _you_, too." Sith's face said clearly enough that nothing could stop them. She was as much at fault as Rath was, and what made it worse was that she was their _queen_ as well as a fellow Prince. _She_ was supposed to protect this land from Rath's insanity. So far, she did that by making sure whatever _Chesier_ settlements there were had been protected.

"It depends on how much they value _Chesier_ – the weakest of the bloodlines of Espers," Sith finally said quietly, "So far, all I've been able to do is make sure the Chesier haven't suffered. But… _Kin_ and _Strae_ are much fewer, and I've done nothing for them." She shook her head. Some queen she ended up being, she thought bitterly. Maybe her father should have chosen Sceppiro to rule instead of her. He would have protected the nobles, the ones who could fight and survive.

"They shouldn't expect you to do everything," Malik said to her, and she looked at him squarely. He just didn't understand. She hadn't just left them, she left them _to deal with Rath_ while _she_ ran away and hid like a child. She _should_ be expected to fix this. Damn it, she just didn't know how. Even with Rath dead, her world was nothing more than a wasteland.

Looking down at her hands, Sith asked, "What do I do first?" Malik laid his head on her shoulder, wishing she'd stop being so harsh with herself. To him, she did the best she could. Luckily, he didn't need to answer her and say that. Fenrir, who was far older and far wiser, was willing to do it. He lay down on the street, his body nearly filling most of the road.

"No one can tell you what you must do," he said gently, and Sith's eyes watered, "Sith… you are the _queen_. You are Nesce's will. Whatever you do, we will follow." How could Sith believe that when so many of her own wanted her dead! She looked up, tears falling freely. If only she could ask him that! Instead, all she could do was sniffle and whine. She hated herself for that weakness.

"Who am I to determine the fate of our world?" she finally asked him, deciding her pity party had to end, "Who am I to decide anything for any of you?" Fenrir just smiled. It was a knowing smile, one that said he already knew she'd ask him that.

"Who is Rath, to do the same?" he simply asked in retort. Sith stopped whatever it was she wanted to say. Anything Rath would choose would be far worse than what Sith wanted for everyone. Rath already destroyed thousands of worlds, and was close to twisting the few core worlds left in Oblivion. She enslaved millions of people; she killed far more than that. Everywhere she walked, people feared her. Sith, at least, brought them some grim hope with her return. That was better than nothing.

"Can I really restore Nesce?" she asked the wolf, and her sadness was so sincere that it hurt him to see. He smiled weakly. How much could be restored would not be known for a while. But she would do far better than anyone else. She _was_ Nesce, personified. She was its queen, its voice, and its essence. Just like her parents had been.

"You've already begun," he said after a time, and when she tilted her head, he continued, "You're protecting the heart of your people. Chesiers are the weakest of us, yes, but they provide the foundation of the Esper kingdoms. You alone made sure the worlds they fled to were safe. That was the start." That was what would make the difference. Sith cared about the _people_ of Nesce before bloodlines.

"Without them, we would have nothing," Sith whispered, and Fenrir nodded. Ryou saw her eyes fog for a minute; she was clearly thinking very deeply. How far did her thoughts travel, he wondered.

"You think far more than you know, Sith," Fenrir told her, and her eyes returned to their normal focus, "For now, you can let the worry about the Chesiers go. They are fine, and they know you are their queen." Sith nodded. That _was_ a start, and she did not forget the kindness and respect they showed her – even when she had been so sure she was one of them! Was it possible the elders of Duran had known who she was all along? Was that why they had followed Katt without question, even through Rath's merciless assaults?

"And while you stop worrying, you can tell us more about that castle," Ryuuzaki pointed out, and Sith turned to look at him curiously, "Second step would probably be to try and hide that crown of yours before Rath takes it." Sith grinned. That was a good idea, but only half of the step he spoke of. The first half was to secure the crown. The second half was to find that damned Sword of Mercy, and her brother, who should _have it with him_.

"We could hide it back in Domino!" Honda suggested energetically, "Rath's already been there, right? She wouldn't think it'd be there!"

"Yeah, _there's_ an idea," Kaiba added sarcastically, "Hide the _Crown of Nesce_ in our crippled, crumbling world and let a _madman_ rampage through it a second time trying to find it. What a _wonderful_ idea. I think the only thing better was if one of us wore it and danced around like a giant target." Sith could fantasize that Kaiba would be the idiot wearing the crown, and had to hide a laugh. As much as hiding the crown seemed plausible, she didn't want it in a world that wasn't stable.

"We could take it, but we're not hiding it. Especially not in Domino," Sith said, with no uncertain terms, "If we take it, we keep it with Fenrir." The wolf in question grunted in amusement, and it took Sith a minute to realize she hadn't even asked if he was willing to do that. The embarrassment on her face showed him she didn't mean it as an insult. It was endearing – in the sense that she was still a pup trying to become a wolf, herself. Blushing, she said, "Would you do this for me?"

"You are my queen, Sith," Fenrir reminded her, "Your will is mine. I will keep the crown safe until you can wear it." Sith smiled. She knew the old wolf would keep his word. Taking a breath, she turned toward the main road, the one she dreaded the most.

There was an odd aura to that particular street. It was thin, barely perceptible even to her, but Sith still saw the black mist that covered the cobblestone. That was the road that wound through the city, and would bring her to the castle. To her home. That would have been where the first fights broke out, and where the most people had died. There had been splashes of blood in the side-streets; Sith was terrified of the carnage she would see on the main road.

That terror would have to recede. Sith had more than enough support to brave through the fear and walk along the road. Making sure she still had Zealacht, she took a deep breath and started forward. She took another step, and then a third one. The first wave of death hit her full on, and it nearly knocked her down. But Saix, Artemis, and Victor were all behind her, and Saix caught her before she stumbled. She took his hand and continued onward. Several steps later, another wave of death hit her, and then a third. Sith took it all, her eyes growing hard as she finally stepped onto the road and turned.

The road sloped uphill gently, and already she saw the castle walls and the huge gate that separated the royal court from the rest of the capital. It loomed like a black monolith, and Sith could not see where the walls began or ended. But she did see blood – lots of it – and she saw corpses. Rotting corpses that had thousands of years to sit and stew, their spirits either resting or seething. Most had been burned so badly that there was no way to distinguish them. Some had simply been cut through, others speared or ripped apart. The smell alone was unbearable. But the scene was… absolutely frightening. For a moment, Sith lost herself and froze in the street.

"She really… killed them all," Anzu whispered, eyes wide as she made her way to the front, "Nothing but ashes."

"We don't know what the vile energy in this world is capable of," Saix warned her, before she went too far ahead, "Rath twisted this world. Don't stray too far from us." Anzu gulped and stepped back. She knew a warning when she heard it, and from anyone in Sith's family, 'don't leave us' normally meant 'walk away and die.' Saix was probably no different.

"I still can't believe it," Victor breathed, as Artemis shivered beside him, "You both always told us that Aeroglyph was gone… but we never knew about _this_. Mother… what happened?" Sith felt too ill to want to answer, but she had Saix to keep her from collapsing. She resisted the want to vomit, and shook her head.

"Rath destroyed this world," Sith breathed, looking up at the castle gate, "My… my lord… if I knew what she'd do, I would never have fled!"

"Not one of us knew what she would do," Fenrir told her with a rumbling growl, his snout pointed toward the castle, eyes narrowed, "We simply knew something was coming. For once, _we_ are the ones at fault for this destruction." Sith shook her head again. As much as she wanted to hear that she was free from this, she knew this wasn't about blame, or who had done what. Nesce had to be restored. Without it, the Espers would cease to exist, would die out in only a few millennia. And to her, and to Fenrir, four thousand years wasn't a large chunk of time.

"…Ryuuzaki," Sith said after a minute, and he looked at her, "You said earlier that it'd be a good thing if I told you all about the castle. Is it still a good idea?"

"You actually _remember?_" Bakura asked, and was subsequently silenced by Yami. Ryuuzaki ignored him, and looking at Sith, he nodded.

"If you can, then do it," he said, knowing he sounded bossier than he meant to be. Sith smiled wryly. She certainly could. It may have been centuries, but she knew enough and her memories were strong and fresh again. She looked at the castle gate again. The waves of darkness kept pouring out, but after the first three hits, her body seemed to be used to them. She was okay – for now.

"The castle is separated into four towers, apart from the main structure itself," Sith began slowly, "The castle itself holds the audience chambers, the private apartments, dungeon, kitchens, and the basic living arrangements for the royal family. The northeastern tower is the observatory. The southeastern tower is the guards' barracks and command post. The southwestern tower is the _Tower von Waffen_ – the Tower of Weapons. And the northwestern tower is the _Tower von Zauber_ – the Tower of spells, and Sceppiro's quarters when I handed him the crown."

"I thought you were the _queen_," Malik pointed out curiously, looking over at her as she pointed out the towers in question. They were almost impossible to see against all of the black; only the pointed roofs were visible.

"I _was_, but I needed someone to rule the throne while I was in Egypt," she replied simply, and continued, "Underneath the castle is the treasury, where the crown should be kept. But it's guarded with powerful wards and spells. My pendant should be able to deactivate the first eleven." Ryou noticed she sounded almost uncertain of this fact. He looked over at her. She fingered her pendant just as uncertainly as she sounded.

"What about the other wards?" he urged. Sith bit her lip.

"Since my brother and I both renewed the seals after our father was killed, his pendant should destroy the last one," she stated, and quietly added, "Another reason we need to find him." Ryou nodded. Without him, they literally couldn't get to the crown. But, neither should Rath, either.

"How strong are the wards?" Ryuuzaki asked her, when no one spoke again. She grinned.

"Strong enough to repel Rath for three thousand years," Sith replied proudly. But that pride disappeared as she said, "But with what she's done to erase us from history, there's a chance the wards have been weakened." That meant she might have already snatched the crown, if she managed to come to Nesce first. Ryou shivered. There should have been a sign if such a thing happened – in addition to the horrors that already befell the world at large.

"If those Swords of Mercy can defeat Rath, shouldn't your brother be able to fight her off?" Yugi asked her, and Sith looked down at him seriously. That was true enough. And she'd nearly forgotten about those swords! Lords of Zellos, if Sceppiro was still here, all three swords would finally come together!

"Ah, but he could!" she exclaimed excitedly, and patted the hilt of Zealacht, "By gods, he could have. But let's not jump to conclusions. We need to know where he is. I never said he'd be _here_. He was exiled just like Katt and myself."

"And like us, he was sent to a different world, too," Katt added, and looked over at Sith, "Where do you think he ended up?" Sith shrugged. It had taken long enough for her to locate Katt. And that was with Katt _writing_ to her along the way. Sceppiro, unfortunately, hadn't had the time to keep in touch with either of his sisters.

"Knowing him, anywhere with a lot of mountains, and a lot of places to fall off of," Sith replied flatly, and laughed, "Poor man. Had the wings of a demon, and was cursed with the fear of heights." Considering how high up the castle seemed to be, and the fact that Aeroglyph was surrounded on the northern side with mountains, it must have been terrifying for him to live here. Mello just laughed, shaking his head.

"Man, must've _sucked_ to be him," he commented. Sith snorted, but didn't reply. After all, Sceppiro was her brother. Even if she agreed, she did have some level of loyalty to the man.

Turning away and looking again at the castle gate, Sith thought about the one thing she did not say to them: the fact that it might be impossible to actually enter the castle itself. She had left before Rath did any true damage to the capital, but if anything physically decimated Aeroglyph, there was a chance the doors had caved in, or that the passage was blocked by a magical defense of some sort. Her pendant _wouldn't_ break anything that her family didn't create. Rath, for all intense and purpose, stopped being part of _that_ since she killed Sith's mother. But that was another time in another place.

Unfortunately, Rath was far smarter than Falnika or Amber had been. There was no difference in scent or energy waves. Sith couldn't even begin to guess if there was anything off with the castle – and she didn't want to risk any wrong guesses in this regard. But without any ideas or leads, all she could do was continue on blindly. She glanced behind her. Ryou had Zerrkandr. She had Zealacht. Mello had Derschwind. Saix had Lunatic. Four magical weapons should have been able to dent any resistance they might run into. All four were wielded by skilled users. At least, she had to hope so.

At any rate, she had no choice but to continue. She looked away from where her friends were waiting. Rush was growling by her side, his ears pressed almost against his head, his teeth bared. Even if there was no barrier, the hound sensed _something_ she did not. She grinned. Looks like she'd be meeting this threat head-on.

"Saix," she called, and the man's ears pricked a bit, "Let's go." He grinned, and ran after her as she began to dash up the hill toward the castle gate. Ryou signaled to the others, and as one, they all moved toward those ominous gates, toward Aeroglyph's castle.

Sith didn't stop running until she was in the courtyard. She already had Zealacht out before she even reached the gate, and as she crossed the threshold, she spun and sliced off the shadow knight before it even reached her. Behind her, Saix lunged and took out the second knight, then leapt and dispatched two more who'd come running. Ryou and Mello were right behind them, and Ryou rolled out of the way as an axe was aimed for him. The axe slammed into the stone wall and was wedged there; its unfortunate wielder was blasted in the face by Mello's gun.

"What the hell!" Malik yelled, as the gunshot was fired. There was a loud boom that shook the entire city. Ryuuzaki instantly drew his pistol, and moved toward the wall.

"Battle's already starting, damn it," he cursed angrily, and laughed mirthlessly, "Winchester really doesn't know how to keep things subtle, does she?" Malik just shrugged. It wasn't like she had a choice – it was either they fight or they die, and if he knew Sith, he knew she'd go down with a fight. He drew the Millennium Rod, and was glad to see Matt, Aeon, and Basch kept up by drawing their own weapons. Everyone else just kept as quiet as they could, not wanting to catch a heartless' attention.

Moving along the wall toward the gate, Ryuuzaki looked back at the other guardians and said, "I don't know how many heartless are in the courtyard, but Saix is probably going to go berserk soon if he hasn't already. Mello's probably going to fire off some shots, too." If it wasn't for his grim tone, Malik would've thought he was stating the obvious. The blonde gave a sly smile and shifted his weight.

"So what you're saying is to get _directly_ in Saix's way, right?" he joked. But Ryuuzaki didn't find it that funny. He glared a bit, and shook his head sharply.

"I'm saying we have to be smart, wiseass," the frustrated duelist corrected, and glanced at the gate, "Not all of us should just walk right through there. I'm going to go in; I've had some skill with a gun. But I want you to keep the others back, at least until I get a word from Sith that we can move." Malik nodded, realizing that this wasn't a joke. And when he heard another thunderous crack, he understood Ryuuzaki's hesitation. That blow left a literal crack on the side of the wall! One more hit and it would crumble. He turned to Matt, Jou, and Kaiba, who were immediately behind him.

"All right. We're going to stay back and let Sith handle this for right now," he explained, as Ryuuzaki waited a second longer before charging in and firing, "Too many heartless out there, and not enough weapons for us to go in. Where's Artemis and Victor? And those spirits? They might be able to help." Kaiba snorted softly and pointed behind him. Malik squinted; Bakura and Yami were exchanging worried glances before they both disappeared through the wall into the court. Ishtar, however, just looked up at the dark towers over the wall, scratching his head. He had no idea what this place was.

As much as their disappearance worried him, however, Malik knew he had other things to address. They were spirits, after all. They knew what they were doing. Sighing, he said, "Okay. Kaiba, Jou, I want you both to get everyone to this wall and crouched down as much as possible. The more cover for the weaker ones, the better. Matt, you stay here and make sure anything Ryuuzaki can't hit, you kill." Matt nodded, and clicked his flamethrower. He wouldn't just kill. He'd _overkill_.

"But what about you?" Jou asked, when he realized Malik said nothing of himself in the battle. Malik smiled, but it seemed almost furious, too tight. He certainly wasn't happy with whatever he had in store for himself. He gestured toward the wastes around them.

"I'm going to find Artemis and Victor," he replied simply, "Ra only knows what Saix will do if he finds out his two little idiots went missing _again_." Jou watched Malik dash away down the streets of the city, and shook his head. With a father as ill-tempered as Saix could be, it was a wonder why Artemis and Victor even bothered to rebel against him.

Ryou understood his limits as soon as the battle began. He was outnumbered four to one, and even with Zerrkandr, he found he wasn't successful in defeating the heartless in any way. His swings went too high or too wide, and the damn shadows merely moved out of the way before the sword ever hit them. For once, he was glad he and Mello made amends. The blonde knew his limits, and took aim whenever he could. Often, he caught those same shadows off-guard and killed them in a single shot. This time, he managed to gun down three of them, giving Ryou the time to sheath Zerrkandr and dive as a wyvern-like heartless swooped to attack. Sith brought the beast down with a blast of thunder.

"You okay, Ryou?" Mello called, as Saix slammed Lunatic into another wyvern. It fell to the ground and bled to death. Ryou panted, trying to catch his breath. Even without fighting, the courtyard was exhausting.

"I can't fight them!" he yelled back frantically, "Zerrkandr isn't doing anything!"

"_What!_" Mello exclaimed, and cursed, "Damn it… _Sith!_" The Esper spun, slicing two ghost-like monsters in half before she came to a halt in front of Mello. She too was panting, but she was fighting hard.

"Mello, what's wrong?" she asked, when she noticed the gauntness to his face. He didn't answer; he pointed to Ryou instead. Sith turned curiously, and noticed that Zerrkandr wasn't glowing blue like it should have been. She knew instantly. Ryou had lost control of the sword. Quietly, she said, "Oh…" Was she _surprised_?

"What's wrong with the sword!" Ryou asked her frantically, and screeched when a heartless lunged over him. Sith took it out in one hit, and spun around to destroy another one before it got to her. Damn it, this was _not_ the time to deal with a crisis like that. When Mello was able to load his gun and take down enough monsters to cover Sith, she stopped fighting to try and inspect the sword.

There was nothing different with it. The blade blazed when she held it, and when she swung it over her head, she wielded it with the skill she had with Zealacht. The enchantments were good and strong. But when she handed it back, the blaze of blue light went dead again. Ryou handed the sword back. The blaze burned brightly. The shadows behind them receded with terror, and then were sent screaming when Saix managed to get to them. Sith didn't notice. She was too worried about the sword – as well as Ryou's lack of control with it.

"It no longer sees you as its master," she said after a minute, and though her voice was soft, Ryou heard the words over the screams and howls of death behind him. Even against Saix's roars of fury, Sith's voice rang out.

"But… but _how?_" Ryou asked. But he knew the answer, too. His magic had been evaporating ever since Falnika took her place at Pinnacle's Core. No… even before then, his magic had been disappearing. He had known it was only a matter of time before this happened; he simply never thought it'd happen this quickly. Sith's look confirmed what he knew.

"I thought it was odd that an Esper weapon would choose a human master," she said thoughtfully, looking up at Ryou, "I wasn't sure what to think at the time, so I let you keep it. But, Ryou… I'm not surprised this happened. Rath's been draining the magic out of your world since I left long ago. The fact that you held enough power to use the sword at all is a great feat." It was just too bad that power left when he needed it most. He looked at the blade and sighed. Zerrkandr had never failed him before. It had felt like a true friend, there for him when he needed protection. But now… it felt almost alien to him. Was it sentient, like Zealacht? Did it decide he wasn't worthy now?

"What do I do? I can't fight," Ryou told her, "I have to fight!"

"…_Dithrambus!_" Sith called, and the Erul came bounding through, shadows smeared on the cobble as she ran, "Protect Ryou!" Dithrambus yowled, and turned to face the few shadows who still went after her. Her third eye opened, and a piercing screech just above Ryou's perception went off. The heartless around them screamed and literally shattered like glass. Ryou was left staring; Sith already went to take out whatever Saix was leaving behind.

"Powerful cat…" Ryou mumbled in disbelief, looking down at the sword that rejected him. Beside him, Mello laughed and gave him a pat on the shoulder. It felt comforting, and he was glad the blonde was there.

"Damn powerful cat," Mello agreed, and handed Ryou a small pistol, "Come on. Swords aren't your style, but I've had this gun for nineteen years. Shoots silver, never jams. Not as powerful as my Winchester, but it's good enough for now. Let's kill some heartless and get inside the castle." Ryou nodded. As much as he had disliked Mello, he had to admit – now that they had more common ground, it was easy to get along with him. Then again, they both had a reason not to fight. Saix would likely put them in line if they caused any problems for Sith.

"For Aeroglyph," Ryou said, "And for Sith."

"For Sith," Mello repeated. Then, they both rejoined the Esper in their battle. Swords or not, one side was going to win. Ryou hoped it was their side. At the very least, he hoped they'd put a dent in the horde before they all bit the big ones.

-(End Chapter)

Aeroglyph, the capital of the Esper world, is in complete decay from Rath's madness millennia before. With her sword and her friends, Sith walks the streets and sees the full extent of the damage done to her home, vowing to take her cousin down forever. But once in the courtyard of the palace, her team is ambushed by heartless. Was that Rath's doing, or has Xemnas followed them right to Nesce? Can Sith, Saix, Ryou, and Mello hold out long enough for Ryuuzaki and Malik to join them? Or will someone else come to aid our heroes? Find out next chapter, so click that Review button!


	17. Lord of the Castle

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, Kingdom Hearts, or Death Note. I don't own Aeon, either. But if I did, they'd all be combined into one awesome manga. And Dracula would still come back every hundred years.

They fought to the bitter end. Sith and Saix were both in frenzies of power, hacking and slicing their enemies apart with their swords, the black blood that flooded the court spraying over their clothes and leaving smears on their faces. Mello and Ryou were further back, cleaning up the few that the couple before them managed to miss. Every second that passed, more heartless fell. First it was a hundred, and then it was a thousand. One thousand heartless. One thousand released hearts that would find their way to Xemnas. One thousand reasons for Xemnas to find them and exact punishment on Saix. That reason alone kept them fighting hard, killing the heartless and clearing the court. They fought hard, and they nearly won.

But the final blow didn't come from any of them. The skies had darkened, and eternal black fell over the entire city. Ryou could not see anything, and could hear nothing as well. Then, he heard whistling – the whistling of meteors falling from the sky. Then he heard the screaming as heartless all around them were crushed underneath the meteors. And then… roaring flames. Heat exploded, and the world suddenly became bathed in purple light. Shadows around them fizzled out of existence, and the more substantial heartless shrieked and died, gore exploding as their lives ended. Ryou and Mello dropped to the floor to avoid most of the destruction. Saix grabbed Sith and dove, just as the light grew so bright that it began to burn him. He screamed in pain, shielding Sith from that burning light, but he didn't budge when Sith tried to throw him off before he was burnt to cinders.

But within a minute, that scorching light faded, and the darkness above lifted only slightly. Smoke covered the field; the smell of burnt shadow-flesh was powerful. And when Ryou looked up, he saw Zexion standing in the center of it. The man's spell book was open, and a wisp of smoke was spouting out of it. To be honest, they were lucky they survived. The heartless, however, were not as fortunate.

"Sorry I'm late," Zexion said quietly, looking at the massive destruction he caused. He managed to destroy all of the heartless, but his meteors also destroyed the entire eastern wall, and tore down whatever was left of the gardens and fountain. The castle, miraculously, still stood. And only a few houses in the distance caught fire. That wasn't too bad, considering the damage he had done in the City that Never Was.

"Dear god, Zexion, did you _have_ to use that?" Saix growled, his voice strained in pain as he lifted himself off of Sith and rolled onto his side. Damn it all, he was hurt _again_.

"We did have the matter of those heartless," the younger Nobody reminded them, closing his smoldering book. Sith managed to sit up; she was dizzy and half-blind from the light, but she _could_ see a little bit. She saw enough to know that Zexion just demolished her front lawn. Or whatever had been left of it. She groaned.

"My castle!" she cried, shaking her head, "Are you trying to destroy this world, or help me save it!" Ryou gave her a slanted grin, knowing now she was just whining. Rath already destroyed her world. Zexion couldn't possibly have done worse unless he caused it to explode entirely.

"You know what they say, Sith. Sometimes you have to destroy in order to build," Mello said with a laugh. Sith just looked over at him, her eyes narrowed flatly. Something told him she didn't find him funny right then.

"Who the _hell_ says _that?_" she demanded, but her tone just made Mello laugh even harder. She sighed. Maybe she should have been more selective with her guardians; so far, three of them were bent on complete destruction without intending it, one of them no longer had a sword to his name, one of them was from a different era, one was a complete, berserk psychopath (who would be her husband, too), and at least two of them were technically considered 'dead.' And not one of them seemed to listen to her when she really rather they had.

Knowing she'd rather hear silence than an actual answer, she stood up and turned away sharply, saying, "Never mind. Just get me inside the damn castle." That, unfortunately, was easier said than done. As they all turned to look at the front doors – two massive, crystal doors that seemed almost welded into the wall itself – they saw a large lock was placed on it. It was similar to the lock on the sealed memory, back in the timeline.

"Not another one!" Ryuuzaki cried, as the others who had hidden behind the wall came out to join Sith. Sith turned to them, truly surprised to find they had been there the whole time. They were lucky Zexion hadn't killed them by accident.

"How do we unlock the door?" Miho asked, looking at Sith as she walked to the door. Sith already knew how; her pendant would do it, the royal crest of the Winchester line freeing whatever bonds of magic that kept the palace safe. But as she reached the crackling stone steps, something repelled her. She gasped and jumped away just as a red spark appeared before an invisible wall.

"Hey!" Jou called angrily, as Yugi said, "Let her in!"

The lock, however, was the least of their problems. A laugh in the distance caught their attention, and Sith immediately looked up toward the central tower. The large clock had long since stopped working, but where the clock face had shattered – again, by Sith's own hand – stood a lone figure. And Sith wasn't surprised to see it was Rath. Damn it, she _had_ gotten there!

"Well, now, I never did expect you to set foot in this world again," Rath said, her voice eerily close, even if she wasn't, "Glad to see Xemnas didn't destroy you."

"Rath! What are you doing here!" Aeon yelled, as Sith drew Zealacht again and said, "Come down and fight me, coward!"

"Is that any way to treat your own flesh and blood, Sith?" Rath asked her tauntingly, and grinned, "You treat Saix far better than you treat me, and he's just a flea-bitten mongrel."

"Enough!" Sith yelled furiously, and thunder clapped behind the castle, "You've done enough damage to my family. I am your target. Come after me; leave the others alone!" Saix growled at her, but Sith wasn't in the mood to argue. If he felt a need to protect her, she'd let him. Hell, she _promised_ she'd let him. But this was _her_ fight. It had been since before Saix was even alive.

Looking at Saix, and then at Victor and Artemis, Rath laughed and said, "Are you _certain_ you want to face me here, Sith? The castle is on its last legs. One powerful blast… and your _family_ will be crushed. Including your husband and those annoying puppies of yours." Sith's eyes flashed red. Damn it, she didn't want to fight Rath right now. But there wasn't much choice. Rath came _looking_ for her. Yet… Sith found herself sheathing her sword, her ears drooping. She couldn't do it. She couldn't risk slaughtering everyone around her when she started slinging out her real spells.

"What do you want?" Sith asked, defeated. Ryou and Mello stared at her, mouths dropped open. That was _it?_ _That_ was what her first line of battle was. To _surrender_. Neither of them could believe it was actually coming from _Sith_. This was the woman who murdered gods to escape her fate.

Rath's grin flickered in the darkness. As the lightning flashed, Ryou saw the cruelty on her face. What _did_ she come here for? Grinning, Rath said, "You know very well what I want." In truth, Sith really _didn't_. Taking the crown wouldn't mean much of anything if the world wasn't going to survive anyway. Still, it was worth defending just for sentimental value. Sith raised her sword.

"You're not taking the throne. I'll make sure of that," Sith promised her darkly. Rath just laughed again. This time, it was so loud, it shook the foundations of the castle and rumbled the dry earth beneath them. Sith's eyes hardened. Whatever was coming, it was no good.

"The throne! Oho, Sith, I no longer need the throne, not with the power _I_ have!" Rath laughed, and her voice sounded so harsh, too harsh, "No, Sith. What I _want_ is to _destroy you!_" The rumbling just grew, and now Sith sensed the evil surrounding the castle. It was a deluge of power so enormous, it nearly threw Sith to the ground. And it was speared, aiming directly for the group. Sith braced herself; as the first wave hit, everyone was thrown either to the wall or out of the gate. And when it ended, the gate was raised – and Sith was alone.

Ryou ran to the gate as soon as he was on his feet, but it was sealed shut. All he could do was watch through the bars as the sky reddened, and the ground began to crack. Darkness seeped through it, and that darkness began to take shape.

"No!" Mello screamed beside him, pounding on the gate, "No! No, you little bitch, _no!_" It was too late. The darkness weaved and shifted, and then finally settled on a true form; it was a colossal, canine-like beast that was nearly as tall as the castle itself. On its back were black spikes that were glowing purple, and its nails were dripping with darkness. Its eyes, however, were bright yellow, and its face was hidden in shadow. Sith stared up, eyes wide and body shaking. What… what _was_ it!

"Do you recognize him, Sith?" Rath asked her, and when Sith didn't answer, she laughed and said, "That is Atma!" Ryou nearly screamed. Atma! The most _powerful_ Esper in existence! The very God of the Espers _himself!_ Sith had a right to be afraid. Atma had nearly destroyed the last world he was imprisoned in. Why… no, _how_ did Rath bring him here!

"What have you done!" Sith yelled up at Rath, backing away from the titanic Esper as far as she could. If he so much as swiped at her, she would be a smear along her walls. Rath laughed.

"Me? Ha, Sith, don't flatter me!" Rath laughed hysterically, bordering on psychotic, "His anger and hatred at being imprisoned is what did it. And now look… an Esper Heartless! Isn't it beautiful!"

"Have you any idea what you're even doing!" Sith screamed, "You can't possibly control him! He'll destroy us!" Rath wasn't afraid of that. In fact, it made her laugh again, and she shook her head. Poor, poor Sith. She had no idea what she was facing.

"Wrong. He will destroy _you_," Rath said wickedly, her voice cutting over the noise and the tension. Then, she leapt off the platform she was waiting on, and she floated upwards, toward the sky, "Atma, _destroy her!_" Atma roared as Rath disappeared. It was like listening to the heavens rip themselves apart. Ryou covered his ears, but it barely stopped that horrible sound.

"_No!_" he heard Saix scream, and heard the man slamming into the gates, "Sith! _SITH!_" Inside, Sith had drawn her sword and was already running as Atma spat a beam of toxic acid; when it hit the wall, it burned a hole clear through. But when Jou tried to climb in, whatever barrier had been placed simply blocked him. He cursed.

"Damn it, we can't help her!" he cried, and Ryou growled furiously. This wasn't fair. Sith couldn't possibly win, not against _Atma_. Even she knew it. That was why she was _running_ instead of fighting. And even with her distance, that blast of acid still hit her. Her skin was already burned.

When Sith was just about to reach the stairs to the front door, she knew she was going to hit a dead end. So, she skidded and dove toward Atma at the last second. And she barely missed being smashed by his spiked tail – she was still hit with shrapnel from the broken stone. She rolled and came up just underneath Atma's stomach, but she knew she found no shelter. Atma roared and reared up, bringing his front legs down with such force that, even though Sith wasn't crushed, she was thrown mercilessly into the air. And Atma smacked her into the side of the castle with his claws. Sith slammed into the stone and slid down; a horrifying streak of blue followed in her wake.

Sith hit the ground with a terrifying crack, and was just barely able to stand when she was hit with that heavy tail. It slammed her fully in the hip and sent her slamming into another wall before she even had her sword up. This time, she didn't get up. She couldn't. Nothing would move, not her arms, not her legs.

"_Mother!_" Victor screamed in horror, and Artemis turned to Saix and said, "Damn it, you stupid man! _SAVE HER!_" Saix just watched in absolute fright as Sith continued to be torn apart. There was nothing he could do. Rath's magic was too strong, and Atma was too strong. He tried, damn it, but he couldn't even break the gates. Finally, he roared in frustration, letting every ounce of his strength go into turning him into that berserk terror.

By the time he managed it, though, he knew he was already too late. Sith had taken far too much damage, and was nothing more than a heap on the group. A heap that was bleeding far too much and moving too little. Saix, completely berserk and willing to put himself between that heap and that horrible demon of an Esper, roared again and grabbed the barred gate. He pulled at it, but it didn't budge. He tried again, and found no purchase with it. Finally, Zexion had to stop him.

"Saix… you can't do anything for her," the younger Nobody said quietly, "Look." Saix did look. They all did. Sith was still lying there. But above her was a pink crystalline heart. It was glowing brightly, though Saix could see it was partly cracked. Partly broken. His berserk side began to recede. Sith… That was her heart.

"What the hell!" Kaiba yelled, as everything just… stopped. The fighting stopped, and Atma just stood there, frozen. Fascinated and hungered by the heart floating near the slain woman. Saix said nothing, and could only stare at that heart. Sith had been defeated. Her heart had been revealed, which meant…

"_NO!_" Artemis screamed, tears pouring down his cheeks, "No! Mother isn't dead! She… she can't be dead! Father! She can't be!"

"Her heart…" Saix whispered, so quietly that Ryou barely heard it, "Sith's heart… it's so powerful… but it's broken." For a long moment, no one could speak. No one knew what to say; only Saix, Zexion, and Artemis seemed to know the significance of Sith's heart being revealed like that. Ryou dared to look at Saix. He stared straight at Sith, his eyes glassy and his expression unreadable. Was he even upset? Or was he completely devoid of the emotion he thought he had?

"Sith can't be… gone," Mello said, his voice sounding so distant and so… hopeless. He shook his head, and let his gun fall, "Not after all of this. How… how could Rath win so easily?" Ryou knew how – by gaining control of Atma's Heartless. He leaned against the bars, looking at Sith. She was broken, just like her heart. But what did this all mean? Was this how people died?

"How are heartless made?" Ryou asked suddenly, and Zexion stared at him incredulously, "What happens before they're heartless?" Zexion was about to say that a person's heart had to be devoured before it could turn them into a heartless. Then, he stopped and realized why Ryou had asked. He looked up.

Atma wanted that heart. Atma was a heartless. Rath called Atma in to destroy Sith – she had been specific, and _destroy_ didn't necessarily mean _kill_. Atma released Sith's heart. Now Atma could eat that heart, and Sith would turn into either a heartless or a Nobody herself. And if Sith became a heartless… then no one would stand a chance. Sith would slaughter everyone she came across, and with her skill, she could do it too easily. Oh _shit_.

"Zexion, get us in there _now_," Aeon growled, and Zexion had his book open and was already looking for a spell to break the barrier. But a roar distracted all of them, and as one, they all looked up beyond the gates. Atma was moving again, and he bent his head closer to Sith's heart. Then, he opened his jaw, and was darting for the heart.

A beam of light slammed into him and sent Atma reeling before his mouth closed over the heart. Atma roared, but before he could retaliate, another beam hit him. This time, it was a beam of pure darkness, and it speared through him, sending an arc of black blood spewing from his back. Wisps of smoke emanated from the beam, burning where it hit flesh and spike. Those burns began to then creep along his skin, and his veins began to darken like black spider webs on his body. They bulged, and then exploded into bloody fire. Ryou turned away, his skin growing pale. Atma was erupting right before their eyes.

The explosion was contained within the courtyard, however, and the heat never hit any of them. The rain of blood that ensued was thankfully short. And when it was over… Atma was gone. There was no body. But in his place was…

"Falnika!" Ryou cried out, as he stared at the familiar, brown-haired woman, wrapped in the same torn dress he saw her in just months before. She looked less pale now, and even more human than when he'd left her. All traces of insanity were gone. Godhood was restoring her, after all. She smiled at him.

"I'm glad I made it in time," she replied gently, and with a wave of her hand, she destroyed the barrier keeping them back. Ryou ran in, and ran to Sith. Her heart was still hovering above her body; it was glowing even brighter now.

"You knew what would happen?" Bakura asked her, as he and Yami reappeared next to Ryou, with keys in their hands. Ryou wondered where on earth they had gotten those. Pocketing one, Bakura continued, "You knew Sith was in danger?"

"When _the_ Esper of all Espers is turned into a heartless, anyone with the abilities of _Strae_ can feel it," Falnika told them, and then rephrased, "Anyone who is just a rank lower than Sith, in terms of caste, can feel that sort of imbalance. I always knew Rath was going to do something once she came back to this world. I just never thought it would be this." Ryou wondered if Fenrir had known. But when he looked back, there was no sign of the large wolf anywhere.

"But why did you help us?" Katt asked her, and Ryou turned, "You hated my sister. You nearly killed her yourself. Why go through the trouble now?" She sounded so bitter. Falnika hardly blamed her.

"I've been charged with keeping Oblivion in balance," Falnika answered seriously, her smile gone, "Sith is the key. _One_ of them, anyway. If she dies, then Rath will gain control of Nesce and will summon the gods to destroy everyone else in her way. I can't allow that, no matter what my feelings were before."

"That's pretty, fucking convenient for _you_," Mello spat. Falnika stared at him. Then, she smiled again. It was almost a mocking smile.

"It isn't easy when you don't know what you truly are anymore," Falnika said to him, and then looked up at the castle, at the clock tower, "I believe that is the problem all Mystics face: not one of us knows what we are anymore. Sith was the easiest to blame for it. We were simply too afraid to blame Rath." Now, she looked at all of them, and there was a sharp look in her eyes. Not evil, but… intense. "But if we all saw this, I'm sure we would all oppose Rath. This was once our home." Mello looked at her, and then looked down at Sith.

"You… you lived here?" he asked quietly, "With Sith?"

"I was a retainer to the Lancaster house," she replied, "A soldier. I knew Sith's father, and was around when Rath was named successor to the throne." She sighed, looking now at the broken clock face. She was there when the face had been destroyed, too.

"You… you served our family?" Victor asked, and when Falnika nodded, he said, "But… but why did you betray us? Why did any of you betray us?"

"…to be honest, no one can say for sure what their reasons are," Falnika finally said, after moments of silence, "For me… I was angry. Everything changed after Kiseena – Sith's mother – was killed. No one knew who did it. But her husband was no longer the same man. He couldn't think straight, couldn't focus. Rath had said that the baby caused the death. That the mother was sick because of the baby."

"So you betrayed our mother because of a _lie?_" Artemis pointed out. Falnika turned away. Clearly, the truth didn't make her proud. She couldn't look at him. She couldn't look at Sith's son and say 'yes.' Just like she couldn't look at Sith and ask for forgiveness. Even if she knew Sith would have given it.

"I had never wanted to admit that what I was doing was wrong," Falnika told him, "But then Sith was sent to Egypt, and we had all thought she had forgotten who she was. When she sided with Seth, we were sure she was gone." That part made no difference to Artemis. To him, Falnika had made some very idiotic decisions. But Bakura understood it a bit more, and perhaps he was the only one who did.

"In the end, when it was said and done, you chose Rath because Sith left," he concluded. Falnika froze. _Was_ that the reason? She couldn't say. She had been so bitter for so long, that the residual thoughts and the emotions of the past no longer registered correctly. She sighed.

"It was better than what happened to Sith," Falnika finally admitted. That was enough to put a lid on anything else anyone had to say. A few of them looked over at the fallen Esper; many just stared at the ground, as though not looking would bring Sith back up.

Saix finally approached Falnika. Ryou noticed the movement and looked up. So did Falnika. He hadn't wanted to do it – before, this meant nothing to him. Whatever happened to Sith meant absolutely nothing in his life. But things were different now. He didn't see the future, but he damn well knew what it was, and he knew Sith was in it no matter what happened to either of them. That meant he'd get to the bottom of this and either fix this mess or destroy it so she could live in peace. That was what a husband was supposed to do. At least, that's what Saix _hoped_.

"You knew my wife when this started," he said firmly, dangerously quiet, "You knew her, and you knew Rath. Falnika, who started this? Who truly deserves to die?" The fact that he knew the answer made Falnika want to answer it less.

"Rath does," the Mystic finally said, just as quietly, "She is the one who put all of these events into motion. It was her anger and jealousy toward her cousin that caused her to murder Kiseena. In turn, that set the stage for the revolution that occurred in Egypt. None of it… Sith wouldn't have even known of it, if Rath hadn't tried to kill her father, as well." Saix smiled. It was a sinister look, one Ryou wasn't sure meant he was entirely sane.

"That's all I needed to know," he said, and then he turned toward Sith. He knelt down beside her, and looked down at her heart. It illuminated his face in an almost evil way. But when he reached out for it, he merely fingered it gently. He said, "I needed to know that her heart wasn't destroyed from this." Falnika looked back at him, and then at Sith. This, she hadn't expected.

"No, not from _this_," Falnika replied, and looked at him again. This time, that intense look was back, "But her heart has definitely cracked a bit. Things have happened, things none of us liked… but Saix… I think you can fix her heart, if you want to." Saix did want to. He couldn't quite explain why, but something in him just wanted to. He nodded, though he wasn't quite looking at anything in particular.

"Aww, you mean _I_ can't?" Mello whined, but Ryou knew he was just being an ass. Falnika, and Saix, turned to him and stared at the blonde with that flat look. It clearly said they thought he was an idiot. To which, he kind of was.

"No, you can't," Falnika told him flatly, "As much as you may want to, you can't, Mello. You had a chance, and you destroyed it." Ryou certainly wasn't surprised by that. Mello, being reckless? That was normally when Mello was at his best. It was just too bad that his tactics didn't apparently apply to Sith. Or to any woman he might have been interested in, Ryou guessed. Mello just snorted, looking at Saix. If it weren't _Saix_, he'd still be fighting.

"Hmph. Not like Sith was overly _fun_ or anything," he said in a pout, and turned, "But, whatever. You're a Nobody. You don't like having fun, either." Saix just smirked. That sounded more like an excuse to run away than Mello actually admitting how much he screwed up. That was fine, so long as Mello didn't _dare_ to try taking Sith away again. Unlike Ryou, Saix would make _absolutely sure_ Mello didn't live to tell that tale.

Turning to Falnika, Ryou said, "But can we help her now?" Falnika looked at Sith for a long moment. She had seen people being consumed with darkness – Oblivion was normally the cause for that. But she had never actually seen this before. If Amber had not been so foolish, had not released the heartless in an attempt to kill Sith, this wouldn't have happened. She sighed. Sith was strong, but she couldn't handle her heart literally breaking.

"To be honest, I don't know this either," Falnika told him with regret, "I've seen the darkness possessing people, but I've never seen a heart repelling it. Nor has one ever been exposed to me. The best we can do is let her rest and figure out where Rath has gone."

"Didn't she leave when she released Atma?" Malik pointed out. But Falnika shook her head and motioned toward the castle.

"She would never leave until she knew Sith was dead," the Mystic reminded them, "She's still in Aeroglyph, somewhere. My good guess is the castle." The only thing stopping them was the fact that it was locked with the Winchester bloodline. Ryou sighed, knowing Sith could do no good in her condition. So, he looked at Katt.

"Can you open the door?" he asked in mild frustration. He wasn't surprised in the least when the red-headed Esper frowned at him.

"I lost my gemstone pendant when I followed Sith," Katt informed him, "I wouldn't be able to unless I wanted to kill myself." Ishtar stared at her. That was it? That was why she wouldn't try. Because she lost her damn pendant. He shook his head.

"Why in hell _not?_" he demanded. Katt almost laughed. Except that she knew Sith had never told them too much about how Espers worked or how they kept their power from destroying themselves. She probably never expected anyone to come to Nesce with her – aside from Aeon.

"Espers love jewels, and through the ages, we've learned how to store reserves of our magic in all sorts of trinkets and jewelry," Katt explained quietly, and Ryou saw Falnika nod and touch her bracelet, "Each rank in our society gets their own kind. _Chesier_ only have rings. _Kin_ have rings and bracelets. _Strae_ have rings, bracelets, and earrings. And _Princes_ have all forms of jewelry, and love wearing them all.

"But very few can put up the barriers my siblings had. And because of our power at the time, the only way to break these wards was to break one of our jewels to do it," Katt told them, "Sith and Sceppiro don't need to, because it's their power they'd be dispelling in the first place. But I can't do it. I don't have jewels anymore."

"_What!_ Why not!" Aeon asked her, eyes widened as she said this. She looked at him, and then she smiled weakly.

"Because my jewels took the hit for me when Sith unleashed the five spells," Katt told him, "I should have died. I lived because of my jewels, and because of Sith." That explained her lack of power. But then, why not use Sith's pendant? When Ishtar asked this, Katt said, "If we use it without her, her jewels will break to protect _her_ from _us_."

"Then what the hell can we _do?_" Kaiba demanded hotly, and Falnika and Katt both just stared. He cleared his throat and said, "Look, I never said I liked this, but hell with it. The sooner we get in that damn castle, the sooner we can get home and make sure Rath doesn't kill _us_ next." Katt snorted. It sounded selfish, but Kaiba did have a point. The sooner this ended, the better. But Sith was down, and no one else could possibly get rid of her barriers. Ryou looked at Falnika.

"Can't _you_ do anything?" he asked hopefully. Falnika bit her lip. If she had stayed with Rath, she could have. But she had been stripped of her Mystic power since her 'death.' All that was left was the balance between darkness and light. That wouldn't help her _open a door_.

But as she looked at her bracelet, she thought about what Katt said. She wasn't an Esper – not any longer. She was… well, she had no idea what she was. But no god needed jewels to have the power they had. And Espers only had them to keep their power in reserve. She didn't need that anymore. Perhaps her bracelet could help them. But did they have the power to use it? Katt surely had, if she was a _Prince_ like Sith was.

"Katt, take my bracelet and use it to get inside the castle," Falnika said firmly, and Katt could barely believe it, "It'll get you inside. Bring Sith inside, and find Sceppiro. He might be able to bring your sister back."

"What about _you?_" Yugi asked. Falnika just chuckled. They shouldn't have cared. She nearly killed all of them before; yet they'd forgiven her for it. As for herself, well, she had other jobs to do and other worlds to watch over. For now, she had done her job here.

"I'll return to Pinnacle's Core and keep watching your progress," she replied, "I can't interfere unless events threaten to end all existence within Oblivion. This certainly would have. If she revives another god and turns them into a heartless, I'll be back to help you. But until then… I need to leave." Ryou understood. Dihanna and Poltzghast both said they had rather not interfered in Sith's struggle as well. And when they had, it got them both killed. And it trapped Falnika for eternity.

"Thank you for what you're doing," Ryou said to her, and she looked at him, genuinely shocked by the kindness, "I know you weren't evil. I can tell that you want to see your old world restored. Thank you. I know it means too much for you to give us your bracelet." She smiled, and shrugged it off. Her bracelet was just a bracelet now. Just a reminder of what she'd done – though she knew she'd never truly forget her betrayal.

"You showed me mercy when I never deserved it, and Sith showed me kindness by letting me live," she stated simply, "Think of this as a way of saying that I'm sorry." Without another word, she tossed the bracelet to Katt, and then she vanished. Katt looked down at it; it was a simple, gold bracelet. Not a very high caste, but she could tell it would be enough to at least lower the first ward. Sighing, she shook her head.

"Was it mercy, or fate, that made her change back to what she used to be?" Katt asked, but didn't expect an answer. Instead, she walked toward the stone steps. If anyone was going to do this, she figured she'd be the best bet to getting the magic inside of the bracelet to work. Zexion was a close second, but the Nobody was trying to figure out how to heal Sith.

When she was in front of the steps, Katt held the bracelet up as a rose-colored barrier blazed into sight. A large, red rose appeared in the center; its ethereal thorns seemed to drip with very real-looking blood. Ryou could say he was terrified at the sight. And he knew Sith was the one who put this ward up – roses were one of her favorites. For a minute, nothing happened. Then, there was a bright light from the bracelet, a light that grew until it was almost blinding. It illuminated the black walls and dispelled the residual darkness left by Atma. Then, Ryou heard a crack, and the light began to fade again. And when it did, he saw the bracelet had been broken with it.

So, too, had the barrier. The rose-colored barrier was gone, and rose petals were on the ground, glittering in the darkness. Ryou bent down and touched one. He could feel Sith's magic ebbing from them, and wondered if that magic was going directly back to Sith herself. He looked over at her. Saix had her in his arms now, but she was still unconscious, and her single wing was limp. But her heart wasn't in sight anymore. Either Zexion managed to heal her, or Saix hid it safely. Or stole it, if he was still true to his Nobody-like nature. That thought hadn't escaped Ryou, even now.

But that had to wait. Ryou looked at Katt now. The woman was perfectly fine. The bracelet had taken the hit for her, and now they could get inside of the castle. Or, at least the barrier wouldn't hindrance them. There was still the matter of the lock on the door. And when Ryou went up to it, he heard a voice in his head. It was stern, firm… like Sith, but deeper. A male's voice. Was it Sceppiro's?

'_Only the true lord may unlock the door_,' the voice said. Ryou frowned. Was that, too, Sceppiro? Sith had said she let her brother rule when she left for his world. But if it was true, then they couldn't open the door. They didn't even know where to begin to find Sceppiro. He turned to Katt, but she seemed just as confused.

"Who's the _true lord?_" Ryuuzaki asked them both. Ryou couldn't say. It could be either of the Winchester siblings. Then, he had an idea. What if it _wasn't?_ Sith had made the barrier herself. Just by being here, the lock should have opened itself. But it didn't. He had a feeling he knew who could do it, though.

"Saix, go up to the door," Ryou said suddenly, almost giddy. Saix looked at him, brow raised. Then he looked at the door. Maybe he could kick the lock down, but it wasn't worth it to him.

"Why?" he asked. Ryou frowned. Why didn't he get the message!

"To open the _damn door_," Bakura answered instead, and Saix snarled, "Look, man, you're going to marry _Sith_. That makes you the lord of the castle." Saix stopped snarling and considered those words. He'd be the lord of the castle… a position he never thought he'd find himself in. He had always been subservient to Xemnas. He looked down at Sith. Would she really give him that level of power?

"She would never," he whispered. Ryou smiled weakly. For all of Saix's returning feelings, he just couldn't fathom Sith doing that for him. Why would she? Wasn't she the queen of the castle already?

Something inside, a something he was beginning to get used to, just told him to _do it_. He sighed, and making sure Sith wouldn't fall, he walked up the stone steps and in front of the lock. Struggling to free his arm enough to hold his hand out, Saix closed his eyes and tried to focus on the lock, and getting it to open. He could feel the strings of magic inside of the lock – Sith's magic, looking through him for something. It searched his mind and his memories. And it found whatever it was trying to find. Ryou heard a click, and the lock slid off and fell to the floor. Saix stepped back, a look of relief on his face. He wasn't sure what he'd just done, but he succeeded. Beside him, Artemis just grinned.

"So we live in a castle now, huh?" he asked slyly, looking over at his father, "Does _mother_ know this? In my time, we live in a dump." Saix glared at his son. As much as he loved the idea of a family, Artemis was just being insulting. At least the boy knew he'd been loved; Saix had never known what love truly meant.

"And in _my_ time, my father beat me with a belt for that sort of talk," Saix grumbled. But his point was already lost as he and Artemis stood, watching as the double doors opened. It was slow progress; the doors had been sealed for over three thousand years now. But eventually, they opened enough to admit the team.

And when they did, Ryou felt the most powerful form of evil pouring out of them. Whatever secrets this castle held, they had been held in for a very real reason.

-(End Chapter)

With the courtyard clear of the Heartless, Ryou now finds himself standing outside of the castle gates. Sith's old magic has prevented everyone but the 'true lord of the castle' from unlocking the door, but that magic finds what Sith requested in none other than Saix. Now, with the doors thrown open for the first time in three thousand years, can Sith's guardians clear the castle and safely put the prince back on her throne? Or has Rath already found a way inside? Find out next chapter, so click that Review button!


	18. The Castle Forgotten by Time

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, Kingdom Hearts, Death Note, or Castlevania. They tried to get me on owning a castle, but they didn't realize that not every castle is owned by Dracula.

The air that blew out of the open doors was cold and stale. Ryou shivered as he approached the doorway, and looked inside, along with Artemis, Saix, and Victor. Nothing but pure darkness greeted them; they couldn't even see the marble floor before them. For a moment, Saix hesitated, looking down at Sith. He knew nothing about this castle, and knew nothing about its history. Yet he was named as the castle's lord. _Sith_ had chosen him as the castle's lord. How had she known? Saix's lips thinned. It wasn't that he wasn't glad she had chosen him – hell with it, he would've hugged her for it if she were awake – but how could _he_ rule _this_? He wasn't an Esper. And he was nowhere close to being Sith's age.

But those doubts had no place with him. He was a Nobody. He had pushed his emotions away for close to ten years, and he could push those doubts away, too. Besides, he had Artemis, Victor, and the other guardians by his side. He had Sith right there. Even if her heart was broken, it hadn't been devoured yet. There was still time for her. But he'd have to save the castle before he could heal her. Taking a breath, and holding Sith just a little closer, he walked up the final step and went through the doorway. Artemis and Victor glanced at each other. Then, they followed. With Ryou, Mello, Aeon, and the others behind.

Saix could see absolutely nothing for the first few minutes, but he heard the wind howling through the empty corridors, and he smelled the millennia of dust in the air. It made him shiver, and for a second, he hesitated again. _What_ was he fighting for? According to his sons, they didn't even live in this world. Why did this matter to him? Why was it so important to save one world?

It didn't matter to him, but it mattered to Sith, and it mattered to everyone else. He looked down. He couldn't see her, but he knew she was there, and still breathing. Sith… _that_ was why it mattered. Because Sith mattered to him. Artemis and Victor mattered to him. He sighed, shaking his head. If only Axel were there. The fiery red-head would never let him live it all down!

"Too much evil in here," he heard Mello mumble, and he looked up. He sniffed the air, and indeed, he smelled that foul stench. It was more palpable than the dust or the mildew, and it nearly made him choke. What had been hidden here?

"Is there any way to get some light?" Ryuuzaki asked, from somewhere behind him. He heard rustling, and then a click. Then, a small light flickered on. It was from Kaiba's lighter; it barely illuminated anything around the gaunt man.

"Any way to make the light _bigger?_" Malik rephrased flatly. Jou snickered from somewhere.

"Hey, don't push our luck," Kaiba growled, and looked around, "We're in a castle full of evil. It's best to be careful."

"How can we be if we can't see what we're doing?" Miho pointed out, and though Kaiba wanted to argue, he had a hard time proving a point. Technically, Miho was kind of right. He simply sighed – and nearly blew the light out.

"At least we're in," Honda said calmly, "Now, where's the crown held?"

"Sith said there was a treasury underneath the castle, and that the wards are located there," Ryou reminded them. But that wouldn't help them too much. They still couldn't _see_ where that was.

Sensing this, Bakura came up with an idea. He, Yami, and Ishtar were spirits. As such, they already saw where they were, and could see any trap Sith would have set. They didn't need to worry about getting hurt, far as he was concerned. Quietly, he suggested, "What if _we_ go down and get it?" Yami stopped and looked over at him. Was that really an offer he should be making?

"Could you actually do that?" Yugi asked them. Bakura was about to answer, but Katt was a bit faster with it.

"I wouldn't try it," she said firmly, and Bakura's mouth dropped, "Bakura, as much as I appreciate the offer, you have no idea the wards my siblings would've set. They'd harm _demons_. They would _kill_ you." Never mind the fact that he was already quite dead. Bakura just sighed. He wasn't sure what magic would harm him, but if anyone could do it, it _would_ be Sith.

"It'd be nice if she were up to actually help us," he grumbled irritably. That earned him a snarl from Saix. He just snorted and said, "Hey, I never said it was _your_ fault, beast boy." That snarl rose in pitch. If he wasn't currently carrying Sith, Saix would have hit Bakura. Instead, all he could do was issue a feral, little _growl_. Annoyed, frustrated, and most of all _pissed off_, Saix turned away. The effect would've meant more, however, if either adversary could see one another.

"I'll be sure to tell her how much her pain inconvenienced you," the berserker said tartly, and just a touch too sarcastic for Bakura's comfort. Bakura just let out a sigh and shook his head. He didn't know much about Nobodies, but he did know they weren't much fun.

"I never said it _inconvenienced_ us. I just said it'd be nice if she were up," he mumbled, low enough for Saix not to hear. Ryou just gave a slanted smile. He also wanted Sith to be up, but he knew it wouldn't have mattered much either way. As long as they had her pendant, they were relatively safe for now.

Only two out of the group knew anything about the castle, so when it came time to stop bickering and search, Katt and Aeon took the lead. Using the scant light Kaiba could give them, they made their way down the large entrance hall. It eventually split off into many different passages, but Katt ignored them. The light was too small to provide details to those more interested; instead, however, Katt focused the light ahead of her. Ryou could see, as they passed, the remains of statues and pillars – all of them made of marble. He saw stone boots, their legs lopped off at the knees. He saw busts and heads, shattered centuries before either from magic or from monsters. He saw real weapons torn from the walls, scattered across the hallway and abandoned for ages. It was as sad as the city outside: just a former shell of what it had been.

Katt stopped at the foot of a large, double stairway, that went up for the first landing, and then branched in opposite directions until both sets reached the second floor. Using the light, she looked at the state of the stairs. They were chipped, the carpet threadbare and musty. Cobwebs adorned the crevices, though their hosts were long since deceased.

Testing the first step, Katt grabbed the ancient, wooden railing and pulled herself up. The railing bowed a bit, but the step held. Then, she climbed another, and then a third. She didn't slip. But already, the smell of decay was stronger. She looked down at the others. Thirteen worried faces stared back up.

"Well?" Malik called, when she didn't speak for two minutes. She nodded, and gestured for them to start following her again.

"They'll hold," she replied with relief, "The antechamber is on the second floor, and the passage into the treasury is in there. With any luck, Sith didn't seal the way inside of it." Ryou wasn't sure what Sith would've done. She had taken great pains to ensure Rath didn't get the throne – or at the very least, would have a hard time of doing it!

"Do _you_ know anything about the wards?" Ryou asked Aeon, as they climbed the steps after the red-headed Esper. Aeon looked back at him, his clock-blade striking the ground whenever he moved up a step. Then, he smiled. It looked eerie in the darkness, as though he were hiding a great evil in his answer.

"Very little, I'm afraid," the time-keeper answered sadly, "I met Sith about one-hundred and twenty years after the fact. Never once did she reveal those secrets." Ryou wondered if even Katt would've known. Judging from her past comments, she didn't.

"What about you, Zexion?" Ryou inquired, now turning to the young Nobody, who was just a step behind. Zexion was already panting, trying to keep hold of the railing while clutching his book, and it was clear on his face that he wasn't used to exercise, despite how thin he was. He sighed. His throat felt so dry.

"I could see if the Lexicon has anything, but to know of the intention behind Sith's spells, I would have had to have been there," Zexion replied dryly, and coughed as he tried to keep up with the rest of the group. Which, of course, he was failing at. Sometimes, he wondered why it was _he_ couldn't just levitate up the steps, but some of his seniors – who weren't that much a senior, either! – could.

Once on the second floor, Katt stopped for a moment and looked around. Ryou wasn't sure what she was looking for; after all, he couldn't see. But she seemed to have found it, and went running down another corridor, this one a bit narrower than before. Without stopping, Aeon kept following, the others still behind him. Once through the doorway, Ryou noticed that it was considerably colder now, and he shivered as he ran, wishing he had brought a heavier sweater. He slowed just a little, his body tiring from the drop in temperature.

As they ran, they each noticed that they could now see where they were going. This was due to the right side of the wall being damaged – slits of powerful moonlight filtered through, casting long rays of light along the hallway and illuminating the portraits that still hung on the walls. Ryou turned to look, and he saw faces that looked so similar to Sith – be it similarity in the eyes, or the nose, or almost a perfect match in both. Yet most of them were male. There were only three portraits that were female: one of Sith, one of Katt… and one of a woman older than either, yet looked strikingly like Katt. Could she be their mother?

Ryou would have loved to continue looking at the faces in the portraits, but he had to keep moving. The group wasn't waiting for him, and he didn't want to get lost. There was also another worry, as well. Out of the corner of his eye, Ryou saw Saix's shadow; his hair was more spiked, and there was something off with his gait. Was he holding Sith? Did he have her slung around his shoulders? Nonetheless, Ryou understood what that meant. The moonlight was turning the man back to his berserk state. And when Victor came running down, he confirmed it.

"I can hear my father and Art getting snarly already," he said as he passed Ryou, "I hope mother wakes up soon. She knew how to calm them both down, in my time." Ryou didn't disbelieve him. Hell, Sith knew how to do it, even now.

Katt eventually stopped at another, shorter flight of steps. She stopped so abruptly, that Aeon nearly ran into her, followed in short by Zexion, Malik, and Mello. All of which _did_ run into him. Behind them, they heard Bakura and Ishtar laughing hysterically, and saw all three spirits revert to their spirit forms. And the three arrogant bastards all passed right through the train-wreck without so much as a concern for the four injured men lying on the ground. Even Kaiba had to admit, as he slowed, that that was just a bit too cold.

As Ryou and Victor came to a stop just a few feet short, they both looked up to see what the hold-up was about. Before them all, atop the three stone steps, was another set of double-doors. Like the ones outside, they were made of a clouded crystal that seemed to have been welded right into the frame. And on those doors was yet another lock, though the barrier was green this time, with a lily in the center instead of a rose. Like before, there was a voice inside each of their minds. But now the voice was male – Sith's brother?

'_There is no room for traitors within_,' the voice said firmly, almost derisively. Ryou's face paled, wondering what that could have meant. None of them were traitors, as far as he knew, so there was no need to lock them out. Was Rath really inside of the castle?

"What traitors?" Malik asked, looking around at the others. Everyone else seemed just as confused, though Ryou guessed Mello and Aeon were wondering the same thing he was. She had, after all, betrayed Sith's family. Then again, so had Falnika, and the fallen Mystic had been able to destroy the lock outside.

"We need another bracelet," Kaiba mumbled. But no one had one; Katt had lost all of her jewels, and Sith… wasn't there! It dawned on Ryou now that Sith was nowhere to be seen, and neither was Saix.

"Victor, where did your father go!" Ryou asked him in mild alarm. Victor turned, and realized Saix wasn't around as well. His brow rose. _That_ was unusual, since Saix had been _in front_ of them before. Had he fallen behind somewhere?

"_Artemis!_" Victor called, and the blue-haired man turned, grinning at his brother, "Where the hell is father!" Artemis's grin faded, hearing the annoyance in Victor's voice. Then, he shrugged.

"I have no idea where he is," was the simple answer, "Maybe he took mother and found a different route." Like hell, he did. Saix didn't even know about this castle just two days ago. If anything, he probably managed to get lost, and was roaring and snarling about it all the while.

The last part ended up being slightly more accurate than Ryou intended. They heard a howl somewhere in the distance, and then they heard a crash, followed by a snarl. Victor and Artemis both stared down the dark hall, as others turned to join them. Then, they shook their heads and laughed. _That_ was their father, a snarling, raving madman. Of course, they stopped laughing when said madman turned the corner and faced them all. Saix's eyes were glowering yellow, his mouth curled into a vicious expression Ryou couldn't begin to describe. He was berserk, all right. He was completely _out of control_.

What made it all worse was that he was _still running toward them all_.

"_Move ASIDE!_" he roared, boring down the hall at full speed. And if it wasn't the sheer volume, his tone more than made it possible for everyone to hear him. Most of the group leapt away just in time, and those that didn't were merely shoved out of his way.

Saix cleared the three steps in one bound, and went crashing right into the door. The resounding crack was painful to hear – it was like listening to thunder, and there was no doubt Saix felt every inch of the impact. But what truly terrified Ryou was that the crystal doors _shattered_. The barrier fell away, and the doors were destroyed with one powerful move. It may have severely injured the man. But it also allowed them into the antechamber.

At the very least, it stopped Saix dead in his tracks. After the inevitable shock of seeing a man _plow through pure crystal_ had set in, the three spirits decided that they might be the best qualified for investigating. It wasn't a bad claim, considering nothing could technically kill them in their spirit states. When Yami glided into the large chamber, he found Saix lying facedown on the marble, mumbling something completely incoherent. And most probably vulgar, if the man hadn't calmed down yet.

"It's safe!" Ishtar called from inside. Yet, no one moved. They were still transfixed on how _anyone_ could survive such a collision and still have working brain matter. Ryou looked at Victor and Artemis. The two brothers glanced at each other, neither able to believe their father was that dense. Then again, this was Saix, and he wasn't exactly known to do the logical thing when it was needed.

"What an idiot," Artemis commented, as Victor asked, "Mother wasn't _with_ him, was she?"

"Your mother was smart enough to get him to put her down before he tried this," came a strained reply, and everyone turned to its source. Sith was walking toward them, slowly, her hand clutching where her heart was. _Should_ have been, if she still had it. Her arms still sported the scrapes and wounds Atma gave her, and her tailcoat was nearly ruined. Remarkably, the armor she wore on her shoulders and legs were still intact. But little else was; even her hair was a messy shell of what it used to be.

"Sith!" Ryuuzaki called, as Matt took off his goggles and said, "Damn it, you shouldn't even be _standing_, let alone walking." Sith gave them both a scowl that said she didn't like being reprimanded. Especially when she didn't have much choice.

"And _you_ shouldn't be chastising me, let alone thinking it's your damn business," she replied flatly, and then looked up at the shattered remains of the doors. Shaking her head, she said, "Good lords of Zellos, Saix. One of these days, you're going to kill yourself."

"Did you _know_ he'd be doing this?" Aeon asked her, brow raised as he looked at his old friend. Sith stared back at him in response, a similar expression of bewilderment on her face. It was pretty obvious of what Saix would have done.

"When I wake up to the man _snarling and cursing_ at something, I can only assume," she stated simply. She attempted to cross her arms, but her body was still weak. She ended up leaning against the wall, her breathing still heavy. Ryou's smile at seeing her vanished. How injured was she?

"How're you doing?" he asked, knowing how stupid the question must've sounded. Sith looked at him for a long moment, and her brows knotted together in annoyance. Why were they all asking her questions they damn well knew the answer to?

"How am I doing?" she repeated dryly, a wry smile on her face, almost mocking, "Blazing swords, let me think. I was nearly slaughtered by the Esper of Espers, my heart was nearly destroyed, and my husband is currently doing a stellar job of _destroying my house_. I'm _wonderful_, Ryou. To top it off, I just _barely_ escaped from Xemnas with my sanity still intact." Okay, so she wasn't as good as Ryou wanted. Rome wasn't built in a day, either. If she wanted to be a bitch about it, no one was going to bother stopping her.

Knowing he might be risking his life, though, Ryou stepped forward and said, "Maybe you should sit, Sith."

"Unless _you_ know how to control that lunatic in there, I don't think I should," she replied, and for once, she was actually being serious about it. Her sarcasm was gone, "Ryou, you know I'm the only one with jewels left. I have to break the wards." Ryou didn't like it. Sith was far too weak. Pleadingly, he turned to her two sons.

"Don't either of you have jewelry?" he asked. Victor looked away, and Artemis barked out a harsh laugh.

"Ryou, we were born in a future with no magic. We had no need for them," Artemis reminded him. Ryou looked down. That couldn't be possible. They were Sith's sons, surely they were born into the same caste she was in. He looked at her. She wasn't sure what to say.

"There may be the point of them being mostly demon, not Esper," Sith said, and Ryou tilted his head, "My father was a demon, and Saix is considered a demon himself. That's a lot of dark blood flowing in them." That might have accounted for Artemis's unnatural strength, even compared to Sith. But Victor seemed more like Sith than like Saix.

"Is that what the voice meant by traitors?" Jou asked, and Ryou turned toward him. So did Sith.

"What voice?" she asked him cautiously. Jou blinked, and realized she hadn't heard it herself. Mainly because she hadn't been there. He looked back at the remains of the door.

"There was a voice that said traitors weren't allowed inside," he told her, and Malik added, "Before Berserker Boy broke down the doors, anyway." Sith didn't say anything, at least, not at first. Sure, demons weren't Espers, but they weren't traitors, either. In fact, many of them preferred to just be left alone, to live out their lives peacefully in any of the demonic realms across Oblivion. Hell, with all of the cross-breeding between the two, most Espers were at least a little demonic in their lineage. Including Sith herself.

"Demons aren't traitors," she stated finally, tapping her chin, "If they were, I wouldn't be inside of this place. My guess is, the wards on the antechamber admit only those who would protect the throne of Nesce." Malik's mouth dropped. If that were true, it should have admitted them without question. But once again, only Saix could break those damn barriers.

"So _Saix_ is going to protect Nesce now!" he blurted out, earning a sharp glare from Artemis and a doleful look from Victor, "Can demons rule, Sith!" Sith's grin returned. Another stupid question with an easy answer, she thought.

"My brother and I both ruled, and we're half-demons," she replied with amusement, and this time she did cross her arms, "And my father ruled for nearly two thousand years, and he was an _Incubus_." Now, Malik paled. Fenrir had mentioned Sith's father being a demon, but an _Incubus?_ Damn it, that was a feared demon indeed. It also explained why she had the wings and the tail – before the former had been sliced off. He shook his head.

"So you're a demonic, Esper-Succubus sort of thing?" he asked, and snorted, "It explains a lot."

"I am _not_," Sith said defensively, and actually laughed, "Oh, boy, I never thought I'd be having this conversation. But I guess now's a good a time as any. Our father was an Incubus, but that doesn't mean we're the same class as he was. We're _Espers_, and nothing changes that. We just happen to be half-demons as well." Which only managed to confuse Malik more than really explain anything. But, he just shrugged it off. As long as they were still _Katt and Sith_, he was fine with it. And as long as Sith wasn't as close to the legends as was stated, he was even better.

"So, if demons can rule the throne, why haven't they tried killing Rath and _then_ killing _you_?" Kaiba asked her, and Sith looked up at him curiously. She saw he was actually genuinely curious. And her tail lashed a bit. That was probably a good question to ask. After all, logically, if the demons wanted the throne, they could claim it. And her father would have been the reason they'd win, too.

"In all honesty, I don't really know," Sith finally answered sadly, "Perhaps they fear my family, or perhaps they really just don't want the throne." Ryou wanted to ask if there was any actual difference between Esper and demon, but he decided that if there were, Sith would eventually tell them. When it most counted, anyway.

"Maybe it's Saix they were afraid of," Mello snorted, and Ryou glared at him to shut him up, "I mean, he did just destroy your front doors, didn't he?" Sith's look went flat. He did do that, even if he meant to just open them. But even so, demons do things like that all of the time, and then far worse. But they were smart enough to leave her and her worlds _alone_.

"I think these questions could probably wait a while," she finally said, when she couldn't figure out how else to answer, "We're not here for demonology. We're here to get the crown and kill Rath."

"And save Nesce, right?" Katt added emphatically. Sith looked at her sister, and nearly laughed. In all honesty, there wasn't too much to salvage. But this was their home, and if Saix wanted to be here with her when it was said and done, she'd come back and do what she could. She was a prince, and she was the Queen. She nodded.

"That comes later, unfortunately," she reminded her twin, and Katt threw up her arms, "Katt, look at me. We're being attacked left and right. Does it _look_ like we're in a position to try saving Nesce?" Katt stopped her protest and her ears drooped, nearly hiding in her red hair. She shook her head. Sith sighed and said, "Let's just clear the damn place out, first." That much, they could try and do. That'd have to be enough for Katt.

The antechamber was in as much disarray as the rest of the castle. Sith walked in, flanked by Ryou, Mello, and Aeon, with Katt, Matt, and the rest coming a moment behind her. The ceiling had been torn off ages ago, and the moonlight was strong. It illuminated the ruined floor and the crumbling pillars that had once held a second tier in the court. It illuminated the withered plants that had taken over, climbing up the old walls and creeping in through the cracks in the floor. It illuminated the dust and the webs in the corners. Even the threadbare carpet could be seen, looking like a long smudge of darkness in the night.

The throne was toward the back wall. Or what had once been; now it was nothing more than ruins, torn away and overgrown with ivy. Ryou could see that, at one time, that wall sported two large, oak doors that led to the two towers Sith had mentioned: Weaponry and Magic. One of which belonged to her brother. But with the wall destroyed, the view of both towers was clear. And they poked into the sky like black pyres of doom, their windows invisible.

Sith made her way across the chamber, barely noticing Saix on the floor as she passed him. She stepped over the broken stained glass, looking out cracked window frames and seeing the ivy that had clung to them, as well. She walked past the pillars, touched one even. So many memories were in this room, but they were so old and faded now. Were they real anymore?

"Was it all just a dream?" she whispered, stopping as she stared at the throne. It was as she remembered it – carved from amethyst ore with garnet and emerald insets. The ore itself twisted several times in the back, so that the backing resembled a wall of vines rather than the back of a chair. In the light, sometimes the throne would glow red if the spectrum was right. But now… it wasn't glowing at all.

"No, it was real, Sith," came a voice. And it was one Ryou didn't recognize. But Sith had, and she spun, Zealacht drawn before she even moved. Something had come out from behind a pillar, but when he saw that purple blade gleaming, he stopped abruptly, and raised his arms, "Whoa, do you truly want to do that!"

"Gilden!" Katt called, and the man smiled and nodded. Now, he stepped into the moonlight. He was tall – perhaps as tall as Saix was! – and he wore a purple overcoat over a black outfit underneath. His long, green hair flowed freely down his back, and his skin was tan. But his red eyes marked him as either demon or Mystic; Ryou wasn't sure which was worse.

"Gilden, what are you doing here?" Sith asked him, lowering her sword, "I thought you'd perished when I unleashed the five forbidden spells!" Gilden snorted, and shook his head. Then, he just hugged her. Damn it, three thousand years was just too long without his old friend.

"You've been misinformed, then," he told her, "I've been here with your brother and most of your old council. We've been waiting for you to get here." Sith stepped back, truly shocked. Then, she looked at Ryou, and he seemed to understand the significance. They'd been _waiting_ an awfully long time. Neither wanted to ask how long that had been.

"Are you saying _all_ of our old allies!" Katt demanded. Gilden grinned and nodded.

"Well, not all of them. Scias died six hundred years ago, and Katsaiga was killed," he said, and Ryou looked away, "But Sceppiro, Sinde, and Welheim are here." He looked at Sith again, and seeing the worry on her face, he added, "We haven't been here long, Sith. We came after we knew you weren't in Xemnas's hands anymore."

"You knew about that!" Malik practically yelled, his voice bouncing around the room, "You bastards knew and you didn't help us!" Gilden stared at him, much like how a father would watch an unruly, little boy. Malik didn't like it.

"There was no need. Did Saix not defend her?" Gilden retorted, and Malik backed down, "All right. I admit we do watch out for Sith, but that doesn't mean we intervene. So far, there's no need for it. Most of what we do is make sure she's okay. Much like her actual guardians do." Ryou looked from Gilden, to the men in question who were serving as Sith's guardians. Ryuuzaki, Mello, Aeon, Matt, Basch, Kaiba, Bakura, and Malik. And more, if he counted himself and Saix. How many people were actively looking out for her? Both he and Sith wondered that.

"Just who are you guys, then?" Anzu asked shyly, not understanding the difference. Gilden looked down at her. Unlike Sith, he had never been outside a world ruled by either Mystics or Espers, and so he had no idea why he couldn't read what caste she was. He humored her regardless.

"We're members of Sith's court," he answered her, "Before she left Nesce for Egypt, her father asked her to start forming one so she could ascend the throne. She did start – she simply never finished." The last part almost sent him laughing, and it embarrassed Sith to the point of actually blushing. At least she _tried_ to be a queen, however well that actually went.

"Where's the rest of the court?" Honda asked, looking around the room. Though it was dark, the moonlight did illuminate a good amount of the chamber. He couldn't see anyone else lurking behind the pillars. Nor did Gilden point anything of interest out. He simply crossed his arms and shrugged.

"Around the castle," he said simply, and when Sith rose her sword again, he said, "Sith, we split up to make sure Rath didn't unleash anything else. We weren't sure even we were strong enough to face Atma." Pausing a minute, he now understood that technically, _she_ shouldn't have, either. Which was why they were still here at all: Sceppiro intended to find the crown in her stead. Carefully, he asked, "How _did_ you fare against him, anyway?"

"Do I look like I did well?" she asked him sarcastically. Gilden laughed hysterically. He always did enjoy her sharp tongue, even if it cost him his life most days. He tried to control himself, and shook his head. He failed to do the former, and so the latter was a jerky movement.

"You look like your arse was kicked soundly there, lass," he answered truthfully, good-naturedly, "But you're your father's daughter. You pulled through well enough." Sith snorted, and then just laughed. She _pulled through_. Just barely, she thought bitterly, and shook her head.

"Well, if I'm well enough for _you_, then you'd better take me to Sceppiro," she said, and Gilden nodded. That was why he'd come here; to find her and do just that. He just never thought she'd take so many damn people with her!

Chuckling, he asked, "What of your friends?"

"They come as well," she replied firmly, and Gilden's brow rose, "Trust me, I tried my best to get rid of them."

"_HEY!_" more than a few of said 'friends' cried out. Gilden just laughed hysterically, having to lean against a pillar before he actually fell over. Sith also grinned, knowing she'd probably be hearing their complaints on the way home. She didn't really care. She _did_ try, on several occasions, to dissuade them from placing themselves in her affairs. Not one occasion worked.

"Am I _lying?_" she asked them, not even looking. She _knew_ Saix was laughing, too.

"No…" Ryou said quietly, almost meekly. Sith just turned and gave him a warm smile. It was one that said, '_I do love you_,' as well as , '_But you all annoy me_.' Like so many of her smiles often said. Ryou couldn't help but not feel too hurt by it. Most of the time, Sith really did try to stop them from killing themselves. She managed to keep them alive through all of it, too. That was a plus, in her mind.

"So, now you've gotten another army of ill-bred idiots to go up against Rath," Gilden concluded, after he stopped laughing enough to clutch his aching sides, leaning against the pillar, "Except that this time they're not hundreds of years old, and only four or five of them have any real battling experience?" Sith grinned again.

"Pretty much," she replied easily, crossing her arms as she looked over the assembled group of… well, aside from Saix, Basch, and the three spirits, _children_, "I'm going on the logic that if I show up with only a few people who could actually have a snowball's chance in hell, Rath might die of laughter." Of course, she was joking. But in a way, she was almost right. Not _one_ of the people in Ryou's world had a real chance.

"Aww, come _on!_" Honda cried in frustration, throwing his arms up, "We helped defend Domino three times! Don't we get _some_ kind of credit!" Sith looked over at him for a second, and then she looked up at Saix. He looked down at her with a mixture of amusement and mock. He neither supported nor hindered her ability to disappoint her friends.

"Yes," Sith grumbled, knowing this as she nudged Saix, "You all have the wonderful knowledge of knowing you lived through this on sheer dumb luck." What she didn't say was that her magic technically should've mauled them, too. She didn't really need to. But it was enough for some of Ryou's more unassuming friends.

"And it's dumb luck that's going to do it again, too!" Jou exclaimed proudly, and at this, Sith just shook her head. Nothing she said in the last five minutes so much as _insulted_ any of them. Maybe that was what an iron will was; maybe that was what she needed, and what _they_ could give _her_.

Smiling at them, and then looking at Gilden, she said, "You ready to take us to my brother?" Gilden stopped chuckling, and this time, an almost bewildered look crossed him. Even though he said he would take her, it was clear Gilden had expected her to need a little more time than _that_. She hadn't healed from Atma; Rath was just around the corner.

"Well, sure, if you're ready," he said, letting his hands drop back to his sides. Sith noticed, however, that even when he said that, he still wasn't moving. Her brow arched. He should have been _scrambling_ at her question. Then she realized why he wasn't.

"You don't remember where you have to go, do you?" she asked flatly, and Gilden blushed before he nodded. Sith's eyes narrowed, looking sharper than was comfortable in the moonlight. "Gilden, where exactly _is_ he?"

Gilden pointed below, onto the ground. Sith moaned miserably. That meant Sceppiro was _terrified_ and had gone down to remove his own wards before Rath even set foot inside. She just hoped she could intercept him before he tried taking down her rose wards. Ivy was easy to unwind; a rose would kill if it wasn't done correctly. Which was why it was _her_ who had put up the last ward: to kill anyone who had undone what her brother had set.

Shaking her head again, Sith walked over to a different pillar, one whose torch still stood despite the damage done to the room. Ryou watched as she took hold of the torch, and turned it sideways. He heard a click, and then the floor rumbled loudly. Anzu and Miho screamed as a large square of the floor slid back, revealing stairs in the center of the floor that led downward. Two torches adorned the arch at the bottom on either side. When Sith descended the steps, she took one torch – Gilden, the other – and then she began to head into the tunnel. Then, she vanished into the darkness, the torch lighting not an inch of the tunnel beyond.

Ryou and the others stood there, looking down those steps for a long moment. Cold air flowed up from that passage, air that bit through their skin and chilled the bones beneath. They weren't needed down there. Yet Jou, Honda, and Kaiba started down the first step, even without a torch. Then, Malik followed alongside Basch and Yugi. And it continued until no one stood on the antechamber floor any longer.

No one except, of course, for Xigbar. He slipped out of the pillar as silently as a shadow. Then, he chuckled to himself and ran right into the tunnel as well.

-(End Chapter)

Once inside the castle, Ryou and his friends must traverse the dark halls of the old kingdom and find out where the treasury is held. But Sith's wards are everywhere, and Saix, as lord of the castle, is the only one who can unlock them without losing a jewel at every turn. But why was Sith's family so wary? What other dark secrets does Aeroglyph house? And what is Xigbar waiting for, as he sneaks along behind them? Find out next chapter, so click that Review button!


	19. Wards of Magic

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, Kingdom Hearts, Castlevania, or Death Note. I tried buying all of the companies, but apparently, pork rinds aren't considered 'currency' with manga and gaming nerds.

The tunnel was cramped, damp, and cold. Ryou shivered as he was led down the narrow corridor, glancing about him to see if there was anything worth examining. There wasn't. Though the two torches provided only waning light, it was enough to make out the grey stone walls around them. There were no pictures on the walls, and no torches elsewhere save for the ones in Sith and Gilden's hands. Cobwebs dotted the ceiling periodically – until Sith burned a few with a raised torch. In short, it was going to be a boring walk to wherever it was they were going. Unless, of course, someone broke the tense silence with a joke or an observation about the castle thus far. But no one did. No one really wanted to.

The corridor sloped downward after a few minutes, and as the group moved, Sith slowed down considerably and motioned for the others to follow suit. The ground became wetter now, and Ryou saw water trickling down the walls a few feet further. He asked Sith about it; she merely said they were going deeper into Aeroglyph. She gave no reason as to why they were slowing down. And she didn't intend to.

Instead, she let the corridor speak for her. After several minutes of going downward, the corridor dropped suddenly. Sith and Gilden glided toward the lower floor easily. Unfortunately, the few that were right behind them did _not_ see the drop, and managed to crash mercilessly into the ground below. And those few now understood why Sith had slowed down. The ground was covered in ice! And as Ryou stopped, climbed down the ladder, and looked around, he saw that the walls were covered in ice as well. His breath came out in puffy clouds.

"How far underground are we?" he asked, as Yugi and Kaiba climbed down the ladder, turning to help others get down just as safely. Sith put out her torch and tapped her foot. There was an odd look on her face.

"Right now, we're about sixty-three feet underground," Sith explained simply, as Gilden also extinguished his torch, "It's _weisbromen_ – winter – in Nesce right now, though. That's why the tunnel is iced over."

"How far are we _going_?" Ryuuzaki asked her, shivering as he stood from the crushed mess he, Aeon, Zexion, and Basch had made. Sith chuckled. Perhaps she'd made a mistake bringing them all down here at once.

"The wards are on this level," she replied calmly, "The treasury is one level further below." That only meant the going would get even colder. Ryuuzaki shook his head in disbelief. How much cold did she think they could tolerate, he wondered.

They continued on, and the icy tunnel widened out into a large, circular chamber of ice. The ground had thickened; it was possible that they were walking over a frozen lake. And that fact was confirmed when Ryou saw large ice spikes poking up from the frozen ground. Likewise, there were giant icicles hanging from the high ceiling far above – so far up, that the group saw darkness before they saw the actual ceiling. The temperature in this room was nearly unbearable, so much so that many considered abandoning the group and waiting back in the antechamber.

Sith stopped before the largest ice spike, in the center of the room. Though all of the spikes and icicles seemed to glow a soft purple or blue – either naturally or otherwise – the one Sith examined was glowing green. And there was a lily inscribed on its surface, like the barrier before the antechamber. Sith hummed, stepping back. The lily should've been blazing with energy, making the spikes pulse with that light. But it was nearly inactive now.

"Sceppiro's been here," she said, as Gilden and Katt joined her. Gilden just nodded, and Katt looked down the tunnel beyond. If it was true, they should have smelled his scent. But there was nothing to say he was here, other than the ward being dropped.

Turning to her sister, Katt frowned and said, "Sith, ich werde Kopf nach unten und suchen Sie nach unseren Bruder." Sith gave a firm nod, and Katt sprinted down the tunnel, neither slipping nor sliding on the icy floor. Ryou looked from the red-head, to her twin. He tilted his head.

"Problem?" he asked her. Sith's lips thinned.

"Katt is worried something happened, and so am I," Sith replied grimly, turning to him, "She's going to look for him. She's concerned he may have been attacked."

"Why?" Malik asked her curiously. But she wasn't the one to answer. Saix was, as he circled the large spike and returned to her side. He looked down at her, sensed her own worry for her brother. He didn't like it.

"Non-human races always leave a scent in their wake that is determined primarily by caste and power," Saix told them, placing a hand on Sith's shoulder to calm her, "The more powerful they are, the more potent their scent. Sceppiro is an Esper _prince_ as well as a former king. His scent should be powerful. But none of us can pick up his scent." Ryou felt himself shiver for a reason he couldn't understand yet. That didn't necessarily mean the man was harmed. But Rath _was_ in Aeroglyph. Maybe she'd gone deeper than they thought she could.

"Well, if she's worried, why'd she say it in German and not in English, where we _all_ can hear it?" Jou pointed out accusingly. Sith stared at him for a moment. To her, such a stupid thing didn't matter. Then again, she understood German. No one else, save for Aeon, Victor, Artemis, and Gilden, did.

"Many of the Germanic languages are extensions of the Esper tongue," Sith explained, "German was our family's main interest, hence my accent. Sometimes when we get frustrated, we forget who we're talking to, and we just start speaking in German. It's a stress factor." Which explained why Sith would go between English, understandable German, and incoherent Esper sayings only she would understand. Saix snorted. He'd change that, if he had anything to say about it.

"I'll need to learn German, then," he commented off-handedly, and grinned, "How do you say…" He leaned down and whispered something in her ear. Sith blinked, and then her face went crimson. So quickly that not even Bakura could catch it, she turned around and slapped Saix right across the face, nearly knocking the man onto the ice. Her wings shivered nearly uncontrollably.

"Saix," she began slowly, and shrilly said, "Wenn Sie jemals gesagt dieses entsetzliche Ding wieder zu mir, ich werde zerreißen, ihre Organe und Futtermittel dann zu meinem Hund der Hölle!" Then, she turned around and stormed down the tunnel after Katt.

Ryou and the others stood there for a very long time, unable to decide just what to do next. They _knew_ they had to eventually follow Sith. But they didn't want to know how angry she was, or what she'd do with that anger. Ryuuzaki, who'd normally been the first to challenge Sith's fury, just looked down at Saix and asked, "What the _hell_ did you say to her?"

Saix slowly pulled himself up off the ice, and dusted his arms off before saying, "I merely asked how you invite someone to bed with you in German. If we're going to be married, I thought it was a valid question." Ryuuzaki's mouth dropped. As did Mello's, Matt's, Aeon's, and Ryou's. _That_ was just _stupid!_ It was no wonder Sith looked so embarrassed by the question. Nor was it a wonder that she acted accordingly, either.

"You know we're her _guardians,_ right?" Matt asked him, as Mello shook his head and said, "_Idiot!_ You don't ask a woman that, _ever!_" Never mind that Mello had done the same thing twenty-two years earlier, and it resulted in a nice sword wound on his left hip. Saix snorted. _He_ was going to be her _husband_, and he didn't seem to see why these _rejects_ were trying to scold him.

"Obviously, she eventually answers," he said simply, gesturing to his two sons. One of which was shaking his head, the other one laughing hysterically. Ryou just sighed. _He_ would never have had the guts to ask her _anything_ remotely like that.

"It also obviously takes a few years for mother to forgive you for being a moron, too," Artemis commented, and Saix stopped grinning as he added, "I'm not due for another ten to twenty years, father." Saix's eyes widened. _Ten years!_ He knew marriage took time, but _he_ assumed that as soon as this was done, Sith was his and there was no question about it. Obviously, Saix had a very screwed up idea of 'marriage.'

"What the hell takes that woman so long?" he grumbled irritably, and now Mello was laughing. That one, at least he could try answering.

"She's _Sith_, and she does things in her time, not yours," Mello answered truthfully, almost pitying the Nobody as Saix's shoulders slumped, "She seems to think that, in the end, she'll be worth whatever form of torture she puts you through before she deems you worthy enough to be 'hers." Saix blinked, thinking about that. Put in that context, he'd probably do the same thing. He grinned again. He'd have made her wait a _century_ if she was as bitchy to him as she was being now.

Looking down at Mello, he asked, "So, she thinks I'm _hers?_" Mello nodded. Saix chuckled. At first, it was a quiet, little chuckle deep in his throat. Then it grew, and he finally just started laughing. No. That was so backwards that it was just _funny_. _He_ was one of the most powerful Nobodies in existence, and _he_ was Xemnas's second-in-command. He was a demonic berserker, prone to snarling and destroying anything in his path. Yet he was still _hers?_

"Is he going to be okay?" Honda asked Ryou, when Saix's laughter bounced down the tunnel Sith ran through. Ryou didn't answer, and honestly could say he didn't know. Nobodies didn't have emotions, so he shouldn't have been laughing so much. Something in him must've snapped.

"Saix?" Ryou gently called, hoping it didn't result in a snarl or a smack from Lunatic. Saix just continued laughing, shaking his head.

"Holy hearts, I can't believe what I've gotten myself into," the older man said, finally, after he managed to calm down. He looked down at Ryou, and saw that most of the others were shifting nervously at his glance. He rose a brow and said, "What?"

"Shouldn't… we think about going after her?" Ryou urged him slowly. Saix grinned, looking down the tunnel. He already had thought about it. Mainly, he wondered how many spells he'd have to dodge if Sith saw him coming. He shrugged.

"It depends on how much my presence would infuriate her," he replied easily. Mello snorted, crossing his arms and hiding a shiver. To him, it didn't matter. He just wanted to get the hell out of this room.

"Oh, I'd say she's probably going to hurt you if you say anything even remotely as stupid as what you said to her before," the blonde said with amusement. Saix's grin broadened. That settled it, then. Without so much as a word, he stepped across the ice and into the tunnel across the chamber.

It was narrower than the one they'd come down, so the group was forced to continue in single file. Saix had taken the lead, but Mello made sure he was close behind – no one knew what sorts of idiocy Saix would try when they eventually caught up to the twins. But everyone knew it might end in a fiery explosion of outrage. So, to keep the damage down, Aeon took third place, and Ryuuzaki insisted on keeping fourth. After that initial line-up, it all came down to who could push everyone out of the way first. So, it wasn't really a surprise that Ryou and Yugi ended up in the back.

That was fine with them both, though. It gave them some time to talk. When they'd gone far enough for the light from the chamber to fade, Yugi slowed a bit, and looked up at the walls. The ice wasn't as thick, but there were still rivulets of frozen water glistening even in the dark. Quietly, he said, "I never thought we'd be down here."

"Down in Nesce?" Ryou asked, and Yugi nodded silently. Ryou stopped, realizing that there was more to the statement than just awe. There was something else, something that hung in the air and stayed there. And when Yugi didn't speak, Ryou asked, "Everything okay, Yugi?"

"She's leaving, Ryou," Yugi said sadly, and looked up at him, "Sith's leaving our world once Rath's destroyed." They already knew that from the beginning. Sith herself said so.

"She would have, eventually," Ryou reminded him gently. But that didn't ease the tension at all. Yugi shivered. Somehow, Ryou didn't think it was from the cold.

"Would she have stayed if Saix weren't here?" Yugi suddenly asked. Ryou's eyes widened. That was what the tension was: Yugi thought Sith was leaving because she wasn't bonded to Ryou anymore. Ryou frowned. Then, he looked away. He already came to terms with what he was about to say. He just didn't want to say it to Yugi. For all intense and purpose, Yugi was as much Sith's little brother as he was.

"No," Ryou said softly, "Yugi, Sith wouldn't stay no matter who she was with. With me, with Mello, or even with Aeon. Nesce is her home."

"But she's taking Saix with her when she goes," Yugi said quietly, "She would've taken Mello if Saix hadn't come. But she wouldn't have taken you." Ryou's lip trembled a bit. That was also true, and also something Sith had said on several occasions before. It was also a good thing, for many reasons. The first one was that Ryou didn't actually want to travel to a different world. The second one was that Sith did.

"I know," Ryou finally said to him, "Sith said she wasn't going to take me anywhere, remember?" The problem was that Yugi did remember. Yugi remembered the past six years, and didn't want to remember them. He wanted things to be simpler. He wanted Ryou to marry Sith like he thought they would, he wanted Domino to be the way it always was, and he wanted Sith to _stay_. And none of it was happening.

"Ryou, what happened to everything?" he asked, "What happened to make Sith believe in Saix?" Ryou smiled weakly. He almost wanted to know that, too. He just knew better than to ask. Truth was, it was frightening how quickly Sith had accepted what fate had given her. No… it was something more than fate. Ryou didn't forget the words that had been spoken on the steps outside.

"I think fate finally caught the old girl," Ryou told him, and Yugi tilted his head, "When I first met Sith, she didn't remember much about herself or why she was here. She didn't even remember her own name."

"Sami…" Yugi whispered. Ryou nodded.

"She said she took that name from a girl she had met in Algon, ten years ago," Ryou said to him, "The girl died in the street, and was around Sith's physical age. I wouldn't be surprised if magic was what allowed Sith to be 'adopted' by the girl's family. But one thing Sith always said was that this wasn't her fate. Being in Domino wasn't her fate." Considering that she was a prince, Yugi wasn't surprised. But he hadn't known about this fact; Sith hadn't said anything about it.

"So if she wasn't supposed to stay here, why do what she did?" Yugi asked.

"Sith needed time to figure out what 'fate' was," Ryou answered with a grin, "She got about five years out of it before the Mystics found out she was in Domino. It's almost sad, isn't it? She didn't find anything out until after they came and destroyed the illusion she was building." Yugi stared at him, and saw the almost bitter look he had.

"And now you don't know what's real either?" he asked. Ryou sighed heavily, and then he slowly nodded.

"I know what Sith said was real. I know what the Mystics said about her is real," Ryou told him, "All of it is real. But nothing she had in Domino was real. Her life here was a lie, and so was everything she would have had if she stayed." Now Yugi understood. And he saw that bitterness turn to pain. Ryou winced physically at his own words. Then, he seemed to relax a bit. He added, "That's why she ended the engagement. She didn't believe in the illusion anymore."

"But what about you?" Yugi asked him, and Ryou blinked, "Didn't you believe it in? I mean, was it an illusion to _you_?" Ryou's eyes narrowed gently. At first, it wasn't. Then… well, maybe it always had been. Maybe he hadn't wanted it to be.

"Yes and no," Ryou replied, and smiled weakly again, "Yugi, I know it doesn't make any sense to you. At first, it seemed too good to be true. Sith was something I'd never met before. Then…" Ryou stopped. He couldn't quite get the words out. Then… what? It stopped being magical? No. Everything after that reeked of magic; a dark magic he wanted no part of.

He didn't need to say anything. Someone else did it for him. "Then it stopped being glittery and new, and you began to see that it wasn't going anywhere except toward a cliff." Ryou and Yugi both turned when they heard the voice, and neither were surprised to find Sith was there. But how she went from being further ahead, to being back there with them, they wanted very much to know.

"Shouldn't you be setting Saix on fire?" Ryou asked her. Sith snorted, and then laughed. She probably should have kept an eye on him, but she figured Ryou needed her attention. Especially since he was the youngest of her guardians.

"I made him think I ran ahead, but I've actually been hiding in the shadows and listening to you," she told him, and he glared, "Ryou, I can't help it. I'm worried about you."

"I swear I'm taking this well," he assured her forcefully, "He's not Mello."

"Trust me, we're all glad for it, too," Sith replied with a smile. Then, that smile faded, "But I'm not here to talk about Saix. I'm here to help you two. I don't like what I'm hearing." Neither did Ryou, but he wasn't about to complain. Maybe Sith could help Yugi out a bit. Or maybe she'd just confuse him even more. Ryou looked from her, to Yugi, and then back.

"Yugi doesn't quite understand why you like Saix more than you like me," he said bluntly, and now Sith just laughed. And Yugi, for what it was worth, glared at Ryou. He hadn't _quite_ put it so damn childishly. Ryou ignored him, though.

"So _that's_ what this is about?" Sith asked them both, "Here I thought it was because of the _past that never was_." In reference, of course, to her life in Domino before meeting Ryou. Yugi did want to know, but Ryou beat him to it. Again.

"Well, you did take a liking to him really quickly. Not even Mello understands it," Ryou told her truthfully, earning another laugh, "We're just curious." They would be, of course. Sith shook her head. Leave it to children to poke around where they shouldn't be poking.

"In other words, you want to know why I took a chance with Mello, was engaged to you, and then decided to screw you both and drop for Saix," she rephrased. Ryou thought that was a horribly rude way to put it. But it was accurate. He and Yugi both nodded. Sith snorted again, "Do you want a summary, or the whole story?"

"A summary wouldn't kill us," Ryou said, and Sith chuckled. The boy was growing some nerve, after all.

"All right. Now, before I start, take into considering that I was already nearing four-thousand-two-hundred by the time I met Mello," Sith said, and Ryou nodded slowly, "When I left Egypt, I didn't flee to Nesce. Instead, I did as Victor said and ran to Ivalice – it took five hundred years of hiding before I found it. I spent time there with Katt, debating what I should do to get back at Rath for destroying our home.

"In the end, we both decided that we needed allies. And the best way to get them was to help other worlds defend themselves against Rath's incoming conquests," Sith continued, "Katt ran ahead, went to help the worlds that were further away. I stayed to contain the damage done to the worlds who suffered first and foremost." Save, of course, for Domino. But there were reasons for that, and Ryou knew that.

"Skip ahead to when you met Mello," Yugi said to her. Sith stopped for a minute and stared. Then, she got it. They didn't have time for a history lesson. She nodded.

"His case was particularly grueling," she explained, "Aeon was the one who received the request from Fenrir. A lower demi-god on the plane of Hell stole a notebook of Death and placed it in the hands of mortals. As the ESB was growing in power, they were alerted to the danger that was coming, but they couldn't touch the world. It was too unstable."

"So they sent you instead," Ryou said. Sith nodded again, and there was a chill in the air for a moment.

"I wasn't as noticeable because of the traits I received from my father," she told them, "But what I never foresaw was the man who would stand in my way to finding the notebook." Which was Mello. Sith paused for a moment, deciding if they needed to know how it was the two had met.

"We had worked together twice before anything happened. The first time, I bailed him out of jail before he was processed for a crime he hadn't committed. The second time, he helped _me_," she said gently, "I suppose it was loneliness that made the ultimate choice. He had joked about asking me to a café after one of his 'missions.' Imagine my shock when he did.

"It was cute at first, the thought of being with someone as fearless as Mello," Sith went on, and her tone was almost melancholy as she looked up at the icicles on the ceiling, "But that fearlessness was actually recklessness. Mello had a tendency to do things that put both our lives in danger. One day… it simply ended his life." Sith looked back at Ryou, and there was a look he had never seen before. A deep sorrow she'd kept in for some time, and had never truly expressed.

"What happened?" Ryou asked her. Sith's eyes watered.

"Kira – the man Aeon and I had to stop – forced his hand. In order to catch him, Mello had to sacrifice his life. He forced Kira's sponsor to kill both himself and her to do it," she said, and her voice shook just a bit, "I… I was surprised to find that I was destroyed by it. What we had wasn't permanent, of course… but… it was like a part of me was torn away. I fled as soon as I heard he was gone." When Ryou reminded her Mello was alive, she said, "Mello is a _phantom_. He has a physical form _here_, but in his own world, he is very, very dead."

"Then what about Ryou?" Yugi asked her, head tilted. Sith smiled weakly, a smile that said she truly didn't want to talk about it. But she did, because she did care about Ryou.

"Katt couldn't bear to see me so distraught over Mello. When I started having those nightmares, she wanted me to see someone else," Sith explained gently, "And when I started seeing _Mello_, she wanted me to see the closest man I could." She glanced at Ryou, and he didn't miss the implication. He almost laughed. Except it wasn't funny.

"Which was me," he grumbled. Sith nodded.

"I saw no harm, though I knew nothing would come of it," she said truthfully, "Ryou… I'm sorry. What I did was selfish and cruel. I should have told you, but the thought of what you'd do to yourself made me think it was best to let you think differently." Ryou wanted to say different, but he realized she was right. Back then, if he thought for even a second that she was unhappy with him, he'd have done something stupid to change that. He looked down, almost ashamed. Sith smiled gently and said, "Ryou, you are young."

"And you aren't," Ryou sighed, and looked at her, "Sith, I'm sorry, too. I should have known."

"I didn't say that so you'd apologize," Sith said firmly, which shook Ryou worse than if she'd physically shaken him, "I said that to make you understand what was wrong, Ryou. You deserve to know it, though I wish I could have said it earlier." Ryou wished she could have, too. But he knew he was too immature in some aspects. She'd have had to word it very carefully. And that would've made it seem like she was treating him like a child instead of what he wanted to be.

Taking a breath, Ryou looked ahead to see if anyone else was coming back before he asked, "So, about Saix?" Sith smiled warmly now. She touched an icicle; it reacted to her and turned purple.

"Sometimes, when you meet someone, you just know they are yours," Sith answered slowly, carefully, "It is a different feeling than if you were to simply meet a friend. It literally makes you tremble, makes you question why you feel that strongly or why you have never felt it before.

"When an Esper meets their guardian, they sometimes hear a small voice that tells them that person is their true friend," Sith explained, and Ryou nodded, knowing he felt that way toward Sith when he first met her, "But when an Esper meets the person they can truly love, it's stronger than that. Their scent is stronger, their presence is greater. It means more to have them by your side." Ryou stopped nodding, and simply froze as he listened. None of that happened with him, and he knew it. But Sith had said nothing about it, and he knew she only wanted to protect him from that pain.

"And when you met Saix, you felt that way," Yugi said, and Sith nodded stiffly, almost as ashamed as Ryou had felt a moment ago.

"At first, I wished I hadn't," she admitted quietly. Ryou stared at her for a long moment. No. That was wrong! He didn't want her to feel that way. She didn't deserve it, not after some of the things he made her deal with. He put a hand on her shoulder.

"Why?" he asked her. She blinked for a long minute, and then laughed ruefully.

"You're asking me that?" she countered quietly, and when he nodded, she said, "Ryou, you have no idea how much you tore me in half sometimes."

"Mello apparently did," he grumbled, and this time, Sith's laugh was genuine. Mello was just an overprotective asshole sometimes. As if crashing their engagement party hadn't said it all. Then again, Aeon had done the same thing, and would have probably erased Ryou from time if it hadn't been for Sith being there.

"Most of my guardians knew, though many of them were smart enough not to intervene," Sith said, and then continued, "As to Yugi's statement… yes, I did. It was an awesome force of emotion, that I nearly vomited when I managed to get away into my chambers.

"I didn't dare call Katt or anyone in Domino. None of you would have understood or even wanted to talk to me," she said, and both her friends felt a pang of guilt over it, "So I told Aeon about it. He… he understood. He simply smiled and said 'I'm glad you finally found him." Ryou frowned for a minute. Not because he was upset, but because Aeon _knew_ about this and hadn't told anyone, either. Not even Mello!

"He _knew_ you weren't going to marry Ryou!" Yugi blurted out, and Ryou nudged him. Sith nodded.

"Why do you think he disliked Ryou so much?" she pointed out, and Ryou snorted softly, "Even Mello knew I wouldn't have married him. Actually, Yami knew it, too." Ryou glared at her for a minute, and finally just cleared his throat.

When Sith looked over, he exclaimed, "I _am_ right here and I _can_ hear you!"

"You asked for the truth," Sith reminded him seriously, "You and Yugi both asked for the truth." Ryou looked down and kept his mouth shut. They had, and now they had to listen to it – whether they wanted to or not! Sith took a breath, and continued, "I'm sure Saix felt something as well. He started acting… differently." Yugi and Ryou exchanged glances. Then, Yugi looked up at Sith.

"What do you mean?" he asked her. She tilted her head, looking up at the ceiling thoughtfully.

"Well, in short, he started acting like an asshole," she replied simply, "He is… _was_ the Organization's overseer. It was his job to keep the others in line. But he started thinking _I_ needed the same herding they did. Kept his eye on me, he did." Ryou didn't want to add that he never listened to her when she finally snapped at him, either. But there was a smile on her face – not quite happy, but she wasn't upset by her words, either. After a moment, she said, "You know… no one ever quite kept me in line like he did during our travel together. It was almost reassuring."

"Was he worried or something?" Yugi asked her, and she chuckled. Then she shrugged.

"He lacks a heart, so he may not have been _worried_," Sith stated considerately, "But he didn't want me to be alone for too long. Whether his worry was for me, or for his peers, I'm not sure." Ryou guessed it was a bit of both, judging by how playfully evil he was with her. Maybe there was something deeper inside of him, too. A tugging of fate.

"He was downright horrified when you were gone, though," Ryou commented, and that had a massive effect on Sith; one he didn't expect. Her smile faded, and her eyes widened, giving her a look of fright that he had never seen before. Not toward Saix – she was in no way afraid of him – but toward something else. She stared, and then she shivered.

"He… was?" she asked him, "Did he say he was?"

"He didn't have to," Ryou replied calmly. Silence fell between them both for what felt like a long time. In fact, all they heard was the wind whispering through the hollow tunnels, chilling them to their bones. When the purple light hit Sith, illuminating her pale face, Ryou said, "He does love you."

"I know," she replied, and then quietly asked, "What do I do now? I have you, Mello, and Saix all in the same place. Is that normal?" Ryou laughed, his laughter bouncing down the hall in louder volumes than he meant. _Normal?_ When in _hell_ did Sith ever care about what was normal!

"No, but we haven't killed each other yet, so it's not too bad," he told her, trying to control his laughter. Coolly, he asked, "What do you want to do, Sith?"

"What do you mean?" she asked him, and he snorted. It wasn't derisive; he was simply amused. Now _she_ seemed to be the unsure one, and that meant something was horribly wrong. She, who was older than most of his world, was asking _him_ for advice. It was too rich.

"I mean you should follow your heart," he said to her, and now she was just shocked, "Sith… I don't think it matters anymore. Mello is your guardian. So am I. I think _that's_ why we love you – there's a desire to protect you because you're _Sith_." Sith nodded. She understood that desire; she'd had that overprotective need when Sceppiro ascended the throne.

Sith turned finally toward the way the others had run down. She couldn't hear them, and couldn't sense how close they were anymore. Quietly, she said, "Follow my heart. It'll always lead me to my fate." Ryou and Yugi were by her side as she spoke, and though neither looked at her, their curiosity was apparent. Ryou's was more knowing, though. He understood what she was saying. Her heart led her to Mello, to Aeon, to Yami and Bakura, and to him. And then to Saix.

"Hearts are interesting," he said to her, and she nodded in agreement, "No one knows where it'll take them, but they know it'll take them home. Think that's why Organization XIII wants them so badly?"

"To find a home," she whispered, and Ryou caught the shake to her voice. He smiled, taking her arm before she managed to slip. She was trembling enough for it to happen.

"See why Demyx thought you could give them their hearts?" he asked, "You protect worlds and people, Sith. And by doing that, you're already restoring hearts. I think… some of them think you can restore theirs." Sith looked down, her lips thin and her face grim. Zexion and Axel already believed that, and Demyx had said he did, too. But she had enemies in the Organization. How could she help them?

"If I restore Saix, they'll kill him," she said bluntly, eyes narrowing, "That's what they want. They can't change me unless they force Saix's hand somehow. And those bastards know it." They were already walking again by the time she was talking. Ryou said nothing, but kept a firm hold on her in case she started to tremble again. Yugi just kept at a jog to keep pace; Ryou and Sith were moving swiftly!

"So what'll you do if they come here?" Yugi asked, as they wound down the passage, Sith picking up another torch as she did. When she removed it from the holder, Ryou heard a soft rumbling from above. Something had been switched.

"Fight them," Sith replied, pulling another torch. Another rumble followed. When they turned down another slope, she said, "Let's see them get through the stonework, first." She grinned, and Ryou understood now what the rumbling was – she was preparing defenses! But for Rath or for Xemnas, only time would tell.

They finally made it to the bottom of the passage. By now, the temperature was freezing, and Ryou could feel his skin growing dry and itchy. Yugi was practically jumping in place to keep warm. Sith, however, wasn't taking notice. She was motioning them to stop, and taking Zealacht out with one move. Ryou and Yugi glanced at each other, but when Yugi went to follow the older woman, Ryou stopped him and shook his head. Then he whispered '_something's wrong._' Yugi nodded, looking toward where Sith was going.

Sith slunk into the large chamber, keeping toward the shadows. Ryou and Yugi wouldn't have known, but there were supposed to be additional barriers – ones that she had to open, even if Sceppiro had passed. Yet there were none, and their friends hadn't been stopped by anything else. That was an immediate flag. Which was exactly why she left Yugi and Ryou to wait. If anything had happened, she wanted to be the first to take the hit. She was, after all, a demon of an Esper.

As she slipped inside, it was clear very much _had_ happened. The chamber was in ruins. Ice spikes had been cracked, sending large splinters all across the floor as wisps of cold spilled out of them, filling the air with a death chill that could kill even the fiercest Nord in Oblivion. The barriers Sceppiro had put up so long ago were all down, not a trace to show they'd even been there to begin with. Sith stopped, and took a breath. Cold, cold, cold. It was too cold. Even if it was winter, there should have been warmth in this room. But there was nothing. Just… ruins. Ruins and a sense of fury that she didn't understand.

Knowing doing it may be a trap, Sith stepped out from the shadows, letting Zealacht shed its light. But no monsters had been revealed. The room remained the same. Slowly, Sith lowered her sword, and looked around again. This wasn't right. Someone should've been here. Gilden and Katt _should_ have waited when they found Sith wasn't in there. But they kept going. Sith feared for what they were walking into.

"Katt!" Sith called loudly, throwing her voice as far as she could, even sending out psychic links to her sister, "_Katt!_" There was no response. Sith shivered, growing colder than she'd felt for some time. This place was dangerous. Why the hell had they gone further?

"_Gilden, get out here!_" Sith finally screamed, brows creased. This had to be his doing, somehow. But the green-haired nuisance hadn't heeded her. Fury turned to curiosity. Even if Katt hadn't heard, Gilden should have. He still had his jewels.

"Sith, is everything okay?" Ryou called, and Sith turned to find that her two friends had followed her. She let out a breath and shook her head. Ryou didn't need to look to know why.

"I want to know what in hell happened in here," she said grimly, and turned to point out the chamber, "This is the room before the treasury stair, Ryou. But there were no barriers. Someone's been here."

"Sceppiro?" Ryou offered, but Sith shook her head again.

"No one can remove the last ward except for me," she told him, her fury leashed for the moment as she walked toward the cracked spike. She looked up – it was split with powerful force. Gently, she touched the ice with her ungloved hand. "At least, it _should_ have been that way." Yugi looked around for a minute, trying to find something Sith had not. But all there was, was cracked ice.

"Could Saix have broken it for you?" he asked, "He broke the last two." That was true, but that was because Sith's energy allowed it. This time was terribly different. Even she couldn't let Saix through this time. Besides, it hadn't been him. He wouldn't have tried, not without knowing if it'd help her or harm her.

"This was done with magic," she said, indicating the crack, "Even berserked, Saix would not have been able to do this. The ice is too thick." It was over five feet thick. Saix would've killed himself if he tried. Ryou looked at Sith, but she had no other answers. Whatever happened, they'd have to go further as well to find out.

"Do we go on?" he asked. Sith nodded, looking toward the dark set of stairs in the adjoining niche, the double-door archway beckoning like some terrible omen. She felt nothing from them. But where else could the others have gone?

Sith looked back at Ryou and Yugi, and they both gave her a firm nod – their silent way of saying 'let's go.' Sith turned toward the archway again. Then, she took a step toward it, drawing Zealacht again and keeping it leveled. Just because she _felt_ nothing, never once meant nothing was there. When she descended the first step, Ryou and Yugi followed her into the darkness.

Not once did they even notice that there was someone behind them. Someone who had seen everything that had happened. Not once, did Xigbar give himself away.

-(End Chapter)

Running through the under-halls of Nesce, Ryou, Sith, and Yugi come to find that all of the wards Sith had placed millennia ago are gone, and that the rest of their team is missing. Confused and worried, Sith must now lead her last two friends through the rest of the underground passages, hopefully in time to recover the Crown of Sicht. But what horrors await them, if their friends aren't there? Has Rath already gotten to them? Or will Xigbar provide answers, when he lets his presence known? Find out next chapter, so click that Review button!


	20. Xigbar's Assistance

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, Castlevania, Death Note, or Kingdom Hearts. SquareSoft and Konami teamed up to take Ohba and Takahashi down. I think they might've won, too.

Sith kept running down the stairwell, and didn't look back to make sure Ryou and Yugi had followed her. She couldn't, anyway; it was too dark to see, and she no longer dared to carry the torch. Instead, she had dropped it onto the stone floor, and kept on going. Now, all she had to guide her was her own instinct. Instinct, and the few distinct sounds she could hear – running water, dripping, and her own footsteps clopping down the icy path. Behind her, she heard additional footprints, and could only assume they were those of her friends. If she could, though, she admitted she'd have used her sword to light the way. But considering the silence, she needed no attention drawn to her.

She rounded a corner, and nearly crashed as her foot slipped, sending her sliding into the chamber beyond. She skidded across the icy floor and slammed into something very, _very_ hard before she stopped. And she hit it with such a thunderous crack that she saw stars. She had no idea if she screamed or not.

"_Eloch du Zellos, dur groz maech haeyed!_" she cursed loudly, knowing she heard _that_. She heard running behind her, and wished she had controlled herself.

"Sith!" Yugi called in alarm, as Ryou ran in and shouted, "My god, Sith!" He saw her on the floor, clutching her head. And he immediately ran right over, kneeling and helping her to sit up. Sith tried to speak; unfortunately, the hit to the head had caused her to speak in either Esper or German, and it was hard to tell the difference, since neither boy knew either language. But one thing was clear. She was in pain.

"_Maech haeyed!_" Sith cried, and Ryou saw that she was bleeding where she was holding her head, "_Mein Kopf!_" He saw Yugi take off his sweater and rip off the sleeves – a very fatal thing to do in this cold!

"Ryou, we have to bandage the wound," he said grimly, for once as he handed his makeshift bandages over, "She's addled. She has no idea she's speaking anything but English." Ryou nodded, and wasted no time. He wasn't an expert, but Yugi had training with injuries and knew what to do. With his direction, and Ryou's determination, they managed to calm Sith and staunch the bleeding.

Sitting down and holding Sith, Yugi looked over and said, "Ryou, this is really bad. I think this is a trap." Ryou nodded, sitting as well. But he kept his own gaze further beyond, toward where they had entered. Yugi would take care of Sith, but he had to protect Yugi.

"I know," Ryou whispered, and shivered. He prayed the treasury was close by. Any deeper, and he knew he and Yugi would freeze to death. Quietly, he looked down at Sith. She couldn't go alone, not with the hit she just took. Then, he looked at the thing she had smashed into. It was a stone altar of some sort – it was about half as long as the room, and only three feet tall. As he scooted back to take a better look, he also saw Sith's blood on the base. He winced. It would be a nasty wound, at best.

"What are you looking at?" Yugi asked, noticing Ryou's movement. Ryou didn't answer right away. He was trying to figure that question out himself!

"A… stone altar?" he answered, tilting his head in curiosity. He turned back to Yugi, "What do you think it's for?" Well, if Espers and demons co-existed, the answer was easy: any number of things. Ryou shivered again, but this time, it was from fear, not from the cold.

Pulling himself up, Ryou looked at the top of the altar. It was bare, save for a single, purple velvet pillow. Curiously, he picked up the pillow… and found splotches of blood. By the look of it, it was fresh, too. And it was blue blood – Esper blood. Ryou shivered again and dropped the pillow, sitting back down onto the ground beside his friends. Yugi risked a glance over. Ryou's face was ashen.

"Ryou?" he urged. Ryou was trembling.

"There's blood on it," he finally said, "Esper blood."

"Don't tell me it's Katt's!" Yugi exclaimed. But Ryou shook his head. It wouldn't have been. There'd have been a specific scent. And without her jewels, she didn't even have any power. No, the scent he had smelled was more metallic, more ancient. And specifically _male_.

"Sceppiro. It has to be," Ryou stated gravely, jaw set, "He _must_ have been attacked." But by what, Ryou didn't know. There was no other sign of a struggle. There were no weapons. Just a pillow and blood. But was it possible the man's head had been slammed into the stone, like Sith's?

"Would he have lived?" Yugi asked, and looked up at his companion, "How much blood are we talking?"

"Enough to be sufficiently worried," Ryou replied seriously, "He wouldn't have been _conscious_, at the very least." Then where had he been taken? Gilden had mentioned that there were two others. What were their names? Sinde and… Wilhelm? No, no, it was slightly different. Would they have let this happen?

"We have to tell Sith," Yugi told him, and Ryou nodded. The problem was, Sith was unconscious, too. At the very least, her eyes were closed. But as soon as she heard her name, her eyes fluttered open and she looked up at Ryou. But she didn't appear to recognize him.

"Verh un dien Mello?" she asked. Ryou bit his lip. Still speaking Esper. And he had no idea what she was saying. Most likely, she was asking where Mello was. He stroked her hair, wiping the small trace of blood that was soaking through the linen.

"He's…" Ryou didn't know much Esper _or_ German, but he knew enough to try to allay her fear, "Mello un aern." He pointed toward the back of the room, but rather than calm Sith down, it made her try to stand. And with Yugi still holding her, it was a bit more difficult than she thought it should be. When he didn't let go, Sith looked down at him furiously.

"Aryut sin maech laeg!" she said firmly, and even Yugi understood it as he let go of her, "Mello un rasen. Sie teur du heil Mello!" Ryou stepped back and let Sith go. She was unsteady at first, but she made it toward the back room. And she found that Mello was not there. She turned and asked, "Verh un dien Mello!"

"Ryou, what is she saying?" Yugi whispered, so she could not hear him. Ryou shrugged, knowing his answer was as good as any. The truth was, most of the Esper language, he'd learned just through _listening_. He never asked for definitions.

"We need to find Gilden or Katt," he said instead, and Yugi nodded feebly, "I don't know how, but that bonk on the head rattled her. She can't speak English – maybe there was a time when she never knew it. But whatever happened, we need to understand her!"

"_Verh un dien Mello!_" Sith practically screamed, disrupting Ryou. He nearly jumped; her voice rang out through the cavern with a terrifyingly loud echo. Frustrated and annoyed, Ryou threw up his arms.

"I don't know where the hell he is, Sith!" he yelled back, and was surprised when Sith seemed to shy away for a minute. Then she mumbled something incoherent to herself, shook her head, and began to look around the back wall again. If only to avoid Ryou. Grunting, Ryou turned back to Yugi and said, "This is impossible! We can't speak Esper!"

"What if she writes down what she needs?" Yugi suggested. Ryou would've laughed, if they weren't trapped in a dark castle, nearly a mile underground. With an amnesiac Esper who had possibly destroyed her skull.

"If she can't _speak_ English, I doubt she'd remember how to _write_ it," Ryou pointed out flatly, and sighed, taking out the scrap he'd had in the sealed memory, "Sith knows how to write in German… but I don't understand that language, either." Yugi felt bad. There wasn't much either of them could do right now. They simply had to find Katt.

Walking gently over to Sith, Yugi placed a hand on her arm and said, "Come on. We'll find Mello, but he's not in here." Sith glared. It was clear that she did _not_ enjoy being touched in any way. Yugi nearly shivered – except that he knew Sith. If she were in her right mind, she would listen to him. He said, "Sith, it's okay."

"Cayn atru… komrade?" she asked, head tilted as she pointed to Yugi, and then to Ryou, "Komrade?" Yugi blinked. That sounded an awful lot like 'comrade.' He nodded vigorously, and seemed to have hit the target. Sith relaxed visibly.

"We're friends, Sith," he replied, "F-r-i-e-n-d-s."

"Fri… friends," Sith repeated, "Friend un komrade." Yugi shrugged. At least he got her to settle down a bit. He looked at Ryou, and was thankful now that Saix wasn't with them. If he was, they'd possibly be dead for letting Sith slip like that.

It took a good twenty minutes of talking, but slowly, Sith seemed to begin recognizing the two of them. She no longer had that fierce fury in her voice as she spoke, and the guard in her demeanor seemed to slowly diminish. When Yugi asked her where the treasury was, she seemed to get a new gleam to her eye. She didn't exactly _say_; she simply exclaimed, 'Tiern mae!' and ran toward the archway to the left of the altar. It had been hidden from view by the shadows cast from the ice – that, and Ryou had been too worried about Sith's shattering crash to notice it. Regardless, he and Yugi followed her. Especially since they learned that 'mae' stood for 'me.'

However, when Sith reached the archway, she suddenly gasped and stopped. Ryou slid as he tried to follow suit, and ended up crashing right into Yugi. But Sith didn't notice either of them. She had drawn her sword, and was turned toward the right wall, which was almost completely hidden under either shadows or a sheet of thick ice. Ryou looked up at her, sensing her tension and distrust returning. The only thing that assured him was the fact that it wasn't aimed at him.

"Unlacht atruraef!" Sith exclaimed, brows creased. At first, it seemed like she had spoken to dead air. Then, Ryou heard a snicker. Then he heard a crunch, as though someone had stepped on a thin sheet of ice. Sith's eyes flashed. And, to Ryou's surprise, Xigbar walked out of the shadow. And the idiot was grinning, too.

"Relax, you old bat. It's just me," he said easily. Unfortunately, Sith's comprehension of the English language was minimal, thanks to her collision. She could only judge using Xigbar's tone – one that said easily he knew far more than he let on. She lunged.

And Xigbar sidestepped, letting the woman fall flat on her face. Sith sat up, dazed and slightly disoriented. Xigbar simply shook his head and laughed, "If you were really Saix's wife, you'd be a bit faster, I'd think." Sith simply looked up at him, the name unreadable to her. He glanced back. And he was honestly surprised by that. Why, just one day ago, he was _taunting_ her over the berserker.

"She had an… accident," Ryou said quietly, as Yugi added, "She doesn't remember anything. She can't even speak to us." Xigbar stared at both of _them_ now, eyes wide in disbelief. He'd taken hits far worse than that little bump she had. Then again, he had the ability to distort space and soften the blow. Sith simply had the ability to be a klutz.

"Are you serious!" he asked, and turned back to Sith, "As if! You can't tell me you forgot Saix! That's, like, impossible!" Unfortunately, it truly wasn't. Sith blinked for a long time as she tried to process whatever it was Xigbar had said to her.

"Saix?" she repeated, and Ryou silently chuckled at the interest in her tone, "Hoen un Saix?" Xigbar did chuckle. To him, this was the perfect opportunity to screw Saix over a thousand times. It was also the perfect time to screw Xemnas over that same number of times, too. The question he asked himself, though, was if Sith deserved that. And how long he'd be hospitalized when she regained her short-term memory, too. Short-term, of course, being the ten years she spent in Ryou's world.

"You know, Saix? Your husband? The father of your two crazy lunatics for sons?" the Nobody urged, and when it sparked no reaction, he said, "The idiot you've been driving to near insanity simply because you're _you_ and he doesn't understand that it's _okay_ to…" Xigbar stopped when he realized Sith wasn't getting it. She barely seemed to understand what he was saying at all. Quietly, almost sadly, he asked, "Do you even know you love him?"

"She doesn't remember right now," Ryou reminded him, and Xigbar looked down at the young boy, "She hit her head so hard. It'll take time. She barely speaks English, if any at all." Xigbar frowned, looking from Ryou, to Sith. Well, shit. If Saix found out, he'd come back snarling about death. And whoever was responsible – in this case, the _altar_ – would be in ruins in a matter of seconds.

"Well, we'll have to jog her memory up a bit," Xigbar said with a shrug, and grinned as he took out one of his guns, "Heh. Saix did this to me once for taking a break. Sure reminded _me_ that I had to _work_." Ryou was about to ask what the hell he was babbling about, but Xigbar was fast. He walked over to Sith, and smacked her hard over the head with his gun. She fell again.

"_What the hell did you do that for!_" Ryou shrieked, running over and catching the older woman before she crashed to the ground. Xigbar twirled his gun and vanished it. Then he looked at his handiwork. She was out like a light. Good. Gave him some time to fix this mess.

"Relax. She'll be good and ready before you know it," Xigbar told him. But that didn't get rid of the fact that Sith was _unconscious_ again. Ryou growled. Even if she wasn't _his_ wife, he was her guardian and he hated that she was hurt. He stood, holding her up with his shoulder. He didn't want to carry her in case she woke up and decided she didn't want help. By stabbing him with Zealacht.

"How? By forgetting everything she learned _again?_" Ryou spat sarcastically, and tried to push past Xigbar, "Get out of the way. We have to find the others."

"You won't find them, kiddo," Xigbar warned, and Ryou stopped as he reached the archway again. He turned slowly, a dark look on his face. That shouldn't have sounded right, and it didn't. Xigbar's grin was gone, and he said, "Shit happens when you're not with your friends."

"What happened!" Ryou demanded furiously. He forgot he no longer held Zerrkandr until he tried to draw a sword, and couldn't. Instead, he huffed and went for a chunk of ice instead. Xigbar wasn't even afraid. His lips thinned.

"Rath found something she really shouldn't have," was all the man would offer. Ryou stood and stared, knowing there was much more to the story than that. But Xigbar didn't say, and certainly didn't look like he was planning to do so.

Setting Sith gently against the wall, Ryou said, "She has the crown." Xigbar grinned again. But this time, it seemed almost mocking. Almost bitter.

"Do you know what the crown actually is, Ryou?" the Nobody asked cryptically. When Ryou shook his head, Xigbar continued, "You see, every world has a _heart_, like a person does. Sometimes, that heart is literally a glowing heart suspended in mid-air. Other times… well, there are certain items enchanted to keep that heart hidden." Ryou's expression changed. Now he understood what happened. Now he understood why the crown was so damn important. It _was_ the heart of Nesce. And that heart controlled every Esper in the universe.

"The crown hid Nesce's heart, which is why Sith sealed it up at all," Ryou whispered. Xigbar nodded. Quietly, Ryou looked over at Sith, understanding why she had wanted to do this alone. She had to keep the heart hidden. Now, he felt bad for trying to argue over the years.

"Espers love their secrets, but this one needed to be kept away," Xigbar remarked, his voice soft in the darkness, "Sith knew every secret in her world. The five forbidden spells, the heart, the three swords. She knows all of them, and knows what it means when they're all released."

"So… when Rath used those spells," Ryou began. Xigbar nodded again, looking at the altar.

"Kratz entrusted those spells to the Espers because he knew he was a fool for making them," Xigbar explained, "He contained them in the orbs and told the Espers 'never release them if you like living.' Rath disregarded the warning, and released them all. And when that brat of hers, Amber, re-released them, you know what it did, right?"

"It ripped apart the barriers that separated the realm of nothingness and the realm of the living," Ryou answered, "But what did that have to do with the three swords or the heart? Didn't Falnika say the three swords were the key?"

"They would have been, if they hadn't been dried up," Xigbar replied, and his tone told Ryou that he was somehow connected to that, "They're Esper weapons. They're not made to be used by humans." Damn it, how was that his fault! Sith had _given_ him the sword, for God's sake!

"So it's _my_ fault now!" Ryou blurted, and Yugi stared at them both. He hadn't heard, of course, but now he was worried about the fury in Ryou's voice. Xigbar visibly winced.

"If you want to be technical, then it is," he stated simply, "Those three swords in particular live off of the magic of their caster. When that magic runs out, so does the sword's power."

"So why not hand it to someone else?" Ryou shot, venom dripping in a way he did not like. Xigbar stared at him for a critical moment. There was a coldness to his eyes that hadn't been there before.

"We're _trying_ to," he finally said, "The problem is, there are so few left born into Sith's caste. Her brother does hold the third sword, and she holds the second." Katt was their sister. Surely, she could have held the first sword. But when Ryou suggested this, Xigbar said, "Without their jewels, an Esper has only as much magic as their body can handle. If that magic runs out too quickly, that Esper could die."

"Can't Mello or Aeon hold it, then? They aren't human," Ryou pointed out. It was more or less the truth, after all. But even so, Xigbar burst out into hysterical laughter, and shook his head.

"Mello's a phantom and doesn't have magic," Xigbar told him, "And Aeon? If he used that blade, time would simply collapse. He doesn't need any more power than he already has."

"There has to be _someone!_" Ryou cried in anguish, throwing his arms up, "We've come too far! We can't let it end with Rath winning." Xigbar opened his mouth to speak, but he couldn't figure out what to say. He wanted to argue that they were trying to do that. But Ryou was right. They weren't winning. There just weren't enough Espers left anymore.

"We can't, can we?" Xigbar repeated quietly, a soft smile on his face, "I have to say, people with hearts have a lot of determination to hold onto things. What makes it that way, eh?" Ryou's glare told him he'd do better to shut up.

"We don't have time for this," Ryou growled angrily, "Xigbar, I'm giving you five seconds to tell me what happened, or I'll…"

"Or you'll do what?" Xigbar goaded mockingly, "Kill me?" Ryou bit back his anger. He knew he had no means to fight. Xigbar smirked, thinking he'd won.

He hadn't. "Ryou can't possibly kill you, but I probably can." Ryou turned quickly, and saw Sith was up – albeit she looked a bit worse for the wear. But she was speaking his language now. Xigbar's smirk vanished as soon as she had spoken. Now, he simply looked annoyed.

"Damn, and I thought this would be fun," he grumbled. Sith snorted, and shrugged as she shook off the remaining pain from the last two hits to her head. Her vision was still swimming, but at least she had an idea of what she was doing down here, and who these idiots were.

"I thought my home would still be standing," she retorted bluntly, "Who said we'd get what we'd want?"

"How much did you hear?" Yugi asked her, and Sith looked down at him. The truth was, in her comatose state, she couldn't be sure what had been real and what was within her dreams. But she did notice that no one else was around, and that the air smelled significantly like _nothing_.

"Enough to know something's wrong," she replied, "Any luck finding our friends? Or any signs of them?" Ryou shook his head. He didn't want to tell her what Xigbar just explained to him. Thankfully – or perhaps not – Xigbar saved him that mess.

"Well, if you count Rath sealing them in crystal, breaking the wards, taking the crown, and unlocking this world's heart, then yeah, we found a few signs," Xigbar told her with a grin. At first, all Sith did was nod. Then, what he actually said to her hit her full force. Her eyes widened.

"_What!_" she exclaimed, and grabbed his collar, pulling him close to her, "What did you say! Say it again. I want to know I didn't hear you incorrectly."

"Rath released Nesce's heart, Sith," the Nobody told her simply. Sith let him go. Then, she stumbled back. This was bad. This was _really_ bad. No. This was far worse than just _bad_.

"_Fuck!_" Sith screamed, startling Ryou, "Damn it, how did it happen! What did she do!"

"As if we'd know," Xigbar replied with a shrug, "All I know is that one second, your friends are running down the hall. The next? They were petrified and I heard Rath laughing." Sith blinked, and then she practically slumped to the ground. That was it, then. Rath got her hands on the crown.

"Everyone?" she asked meekly. Xigbar nodded, knowing what she was actually asking him. She simply didn't want to say it.

"Your sons ran right into the spell," he told her regretfully, but with a pang of pride, he said, "Saix fought like hell. She actually had to take his soul _alive_." Like that would make the loss any better. Sith shivered. Was Saix even alive?

"And Aeon?" she whispered, "Mello? Matt? Basch? Katt?"

"All of them petrified," Xigbar replied just as quietly. Sith said nothing more. Ryou dared a look at her face; her eyes were watered and her skin was pale. She looked almost too vulnerable. It was warranted, too. Everyone she loved was killed – almost everyone.

Laying a hand on her arm, Ryou said, "We'll get them back, Sith." But that didn't help. Sith finally did something she rarely did at all. She broke down and cried. She couldn't take it. She couldn't believe it. How had it happened? She had been right there, and not a sign had said anything went wrong. How could she not sense her own sons dying? How could she not hear Saix's screams of rage? How could she not feel Aeon's power dropping, or Mello fading away?

"It's all my fault," she finally said, trying to hold her tears at bay, "I brought you all here. I led you right to death. I walked away from them when they needed me." Ryou shook his head. No, she hadn't done that at all. She had left to help _him_, but… oh, hell. How had Rath known?

"Sith… they don't think of it that way," Ryou told her, his own voice shaking, "I swear, this isn't your fault!"

"Then _why are they all dead!_" Sith demanded hotly, suddenly glaring up at him. Ryou normally would've backed away – in fact, he wanted to very much. But now _wasn't_ the time to let the grumpy bitch go into a pity party.

Drawing a deep breath, and knowing this was the bravest thing he'd done in some time, he said, "Xigbar never said they were dead. He said Rath stole their souls. They may still be alive." Sith couldn't quite see how. Normally, when a soul is taken, their body is placed in a coma so strong, the victim would not awaken. She would know, for that was how she had come across several of her old friends, some six-hundred years ago. All at Rath's doing.

"There is little difference between the two, Ryou," she warned, her voice barely above a growl. Ryou shook his head and didn't back down. There was no way. There was no way such a tragedy could just happen in such a short time! Where had the magic been, and why hadn't Sith felt it?

"Sith, _think!_" Ryou said forcefully, crossing his arms. Sith stood up quickly, knocking Zealacht away. Her fury was paramount. Too dangerous to push her too hard, Ryou knew.

"I _am_ thinking, you idiot!" she snapped angrily, "I _always_ think. You think this is easy, to have to find a way to rescue humans everywhere I go! Especially when the person responsible is my own family!"

"Oh, grow up!" Ryou yelled, and then the room fell silent. Yugi gasped, but it sounded distant. Ryou realized he had done a very stupid thing, and knew it too late. Sith was beyond anger. She was practically glowing red with outrage. Considering he was human, that wasn't a position he wanted to be in.

"Coming from you, that's rich," she said quietly, her anger nearly snapping the leash she had, "Ryou, do you ever wonder how tiring it is to plan and protect you all?" Ryou knew he never had. He knew he assumed it was easy, since she was an _Esper_. But looking back… even the _Chesiers_ in Duran had regarded him with distrust when he had gone there. It was because of Katt that they hadn't attack. It was because of Katt that Sith even gave him a chance.

"I know," he whispered just as quietly, "Sith, I'm sorry. But you can't do this. You have to stay focused. You need to fight. You know Yugi and I can't." Sith damn well knew that, all right. Didn't mean he had to get uppity about it.

"You're right," she admitted, "But what do I fight? Who knows what Rath has done?" Ryou looked down, wishing he could answer. Xigbar, thankfully, was on their side for right now. He had seen what had happened in a similar scenario – that was mainly because he had caused it.

"I'll tell you what she's done, Sith," the sly Nobody offered, and Sith turned to him, "She's probably unleashed Heartless here, too. And seeing as how this world's already saturated in darkness and corruption…" He let the sentence hang. Sith understood the meaning. It'd become another World that Never Was. Except that this time, Rath would be ruling it, not Xemnas. Honestly, Sith admitted she now missed the white-haired son of a bitch. Regardless of the fact that he nearly killed Saix.

"Tell me we can fix this," she said firmly. Xigbar understood that it was an _order_, and not a suggestion, guideline, offer, or a question. Sith wanted answers, and if he didn't supply them… well, he'd most likely wind up exactly as Sora probably was: dead.

"The only way I know to banish the Heartless are with keyblades," he told her, "To which you have none." She didn't look surprised. Sith leaned against the altar, crossing her own arms as she kicked at the ice.

"So I've heard. But I don't care about the heartless. I'm talking about Rath," she said, and Xigbar's brow arched in interest, "We stop her, we might just be able to get the crown and undo this." It was a dream for little children. Xigbar grinned, and then just laughed. He didn't care how angry it made Sith. But he started to when he saw her sword aimed right at him. She didn't find her idea funny and clearly didn't feel he should, either.

"Not happening, babe," he replied easily, "Heart's been released. We'll have to seal it and _then_ snatch that crown to have a chance in hell. We're better off going to Xemnas."

"Like hell I'm doing _that_," Sith spat, "Son of a bitch tries to kill me and then tries to kill my husband when he fails. I'd rather see him spiked on Xaldin's spears atop the Khartaag Range." Ryou didn't know what Khartaag point was, but he took Sith's word for it. Sadly, as much as the thought did amuse Xigbar, he _couldn't_ take her word for it. He leaned back against the wall, his un-patched eye glinting off the light from Zealacht.

"Well, it's either that or we stay in this castle until we find her," he said simply, and cocked a brow when he saw her consider the option, "What's it going to be, Sith?" She looked over at Ryou and Yugi. They'd support whatever idea she had. But they didn't deserve to be trapped in the castle. Not because of her.

"I'd like to stay, but I need to think of my friends," she told Xigbar, who simply snickered at the thought of it. Ryou and Yugi exchanged glances. The answer was simple to them.

"We're staying with you," Ryou declared firmly, as Yugi said, "We're good, Sith. We'll help you." She looked at them a little longer, and then she simply nodded. Maybe being here was the safest place for them. It was dark, and there were many places to hide.

Turning to Xigbar, she said, "I'm not sure what would be best, but the answers won't be in the rest of the castle." He nodded in agreement, as he had seen the entire thing himself. Sith paused a second before continuing, "I need to get into the treasury. Is there anything at all that would stop us? Aside from the Heartless?" Xigbar sighed, thinking on that. In truth, he had no idea. He fled as soon as Saix had been petrified.

"There might be Mystics if she brought anyone to help her," he replied. Ryou noticed Sith's expression changed to confusion. They had defeated most of the others Mystic Lords, save for Gilden himself. Who else would help her?

"Gilden wouldn't betray you, would he?" Yugi asked. Sith vehemently shook her head. As much of an ass as Gilden could be, he wouldn't dare to do it. Especially if Sceppiro had been with him.

"He's been a retainer in my family for thousands of years. I wouldn't see why," Sith stated quietly, "He openly opposed Rath when she attacked Egypt three thousand years ago. In fact, without him, your world might not have survived."

"Who else would come with her?" Ryou asked, but Sith shrugged.

"No one in their right mind," she replied, and shifted her weight, "Most Mystics followed her out of fear, or lack of a home. But their loyalty is based on survival, not actual love. It's shaky at best."

"If word came out that you were returning to Nesce…" Ryou began, and Sith nodded. That meant that anyone looking to escape Rath finally had a gleam of hope. Was that what truly changed Falnika? Ryou had never asked her outright, but she had hinted that she wanted hope. And that Sith was the key to that hope, somehow.

"The question is whether anyone knows that I've returned or not," Sith said after a minute, and Ryou tilted his head, "It isn't a public announcement, Ryou. No one wants to acknowledge that Espers, demons, monsters, and Mystics live amongst humans. But if one of the 'mythic' races knows, they can alert others." Ryou wondered if Gilden had the gall to do just that. As a Lord, he should have some contacts somewhere.

"We could make it public," Xigbar suggested, tapping his boot on the ice, "Could get you a good, solid army to work with, Sith." Judging by the glare she held, Sith obviously didn't take his offer kindly. Her frown became more pronounced.

"An army of Nobodies?" she said specifically, and Xigbar's face paled, "Are you forgetting that Nobodies nearly killed me?"

"Saix is a Nobody and you love him," the older man reminded her, and Sith fell silent. At that, she did. And as much as he lacked emotion, he sure was gaining them back well enough. And he had proven his loyalty. For that matter, so had Axel and Zexion.

Sith hadn't forgotten what Demyx had said back in the Soundless Prison, either. Maybe there was a ring of truth to what Xigbar said. Maybe an army of Nobodies wouldn't be that bad. There was no difference between them and regular men – the lack of hearts was only symbolic, and nothing more. Sith shook as she considered this. More than half of the Organization had already sided with her or with Saix. The other half either had never been present, or simply preferred Xemnas over life.

"Xigbar, how many members were against Saix's decision to leave?" she asked him suddenly, and he almost seemed surprised. Then, he grinned again. That was what he wanted to hear.

"Xaldin and Xemnas are the only ones who actively did anything to stop him," he told her, and she took it in, "Vexen and Lexaeus weren't thrilled, but they didn't lift a finger. Zexion was supportive. Demyx and Axel encouraged him. Luxord bet on his guts to do it. And I'm not sure Marluxia or Larxene cared." After a moment, he realized he had forgotten himself. Laughing, he said, "I always wanted to know what sort of person Beast Boy would settle down with." Sith found herself blushing with guilt. Here she was, thousands of years older than him. She had never settled down herself.

"Think they'd side with us if we asked?" Ryou asked, when he knew Sith wouldn't. Xigbar laughed a bit more before he answered. And he said they would. It was a long shot, but most of them wanted hope.

Sith sat with it for a few minutes before she could make a decision. It wasn't that she wasn't sure they'd help her. She simply wasn't sure how to do it without Xemnas finding out. And in the end, she knew there wasn't much she could do to hide it. Sooner or later, he'd notice that his castle was empty. And when he did, Rath would probably be dead and she could finally handle him solo. Looking up at Xigbar, she said, "Get them."

"How fast do you want 'em here?" Xigbar asked her. Sith didn't need to answer. Her half-grin told him she wanted them there as soon as possible. And that if anyone could do it without too much suspicion, she trusted him. That was all he needed.

"Don't do anything stupid," she warned, as he opened up a portal of darkness. He didn't look at her, but he nodded before stepping through. That left her with Ryou and Yugi, and when the portal vanished, she looked over at them questioningly.

"Think he can do it?" Yugi asked after a minute. Sith nodded, but something about her seemed unsure. She could only hope her judgment was well-placed.

"We'll know if we have Nobodies breathing down our necks down there," she said, turning to the archway, "Treasury is directly below, down these stairs. We're either walking into a trap, a reunion, or our graves. I damn well hope you both are ready." She didn't wait for a response or a protest. She didn't even wait to tell them not to come. Sith stepped forward, and then vanished as she descended the stairs. Ryou looked at Yugi, both glad and shocked that she hadn't refused their help. Then, they both ran after her.

If it was at all possible, the air felt just a little colder as the two left the room.

-(End Chapter)

When Sith foolishly chases after her friends, her conditions go from bad to worse when she smacks her head hard enough to forget who they are! Ryou and Yugi have their hands full just getting her to learn English, but thankfully, Xigbar comes along to help. After telling them what happened and that Rath has successfully unleashed the darkness within the twisted world of the Espers, it is up to Ryou, Sith, and Yugi to rescue their friends and save Nesce. But will Organization XIII come to their aid? Or has Rath doomed the entire universe to a flood of Heartless? Find out next chapter, so click that Review button!


	21. Xemnas and Those Other Guys

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, Kingdom Hearts, Castlevania, or Death Note. I don't actually know if I need to disclaim all of those, but it's better to be safe than sorry. At least, that's what Takahashi and Ohba said. Square-Enix and Konami agreed.

"Yami, where the hell are we going?" Bakura asked, as they drifted along what seemed like nothing. They had been drifting for a while – not one of them knew exactly how long, and Bakura was beginning to get impatient. Beside him, Yami walked silently down the corridor of darkness. He had said nothing ever since they had arrived, but there was something to his eyes, something that said he knew where they were and why they'd come here. Whatever it was, though, he didn't share with either Bakura or Ishtar. And it didn't seem like he would.

Turning to the old thief, Ishtar, who was on his left, said, "Why's he pissed? It's not like we can technically be killed." Bakura shrugged. But that was a good question. Nothing ever really ruffled the old king up. But somehow, something within the past hour had. What made it all worse was that neither Bakura nor Ishtar remembered what that _something_ had been. One minute, they had been in Nesce, trying to catch Victor and Artemis. The next… they were here, all three of them. And they were alone.

Bakura might not have been his friend, but he knew when to push Yami, and when to be patient. Whatever happened, he had to be patient for a while. They kept walking down that dark hall, a dark space of nothing but emptiness and stars. All the while, he kept his eyes on the younger spirit. It was creepy how Yami didn't appear to blink or even realize he was with them. It bothered Bakura.

"Yami," Bakura whispered. Yami turned to him, a dark, deep look on his face. Frankly, it frightened the thief. He didn't need to hold that gaze for long.

"I never thought we would fail, once the Items were stabilized," Yami said emptily, turning to look forward again, "I never once thought we'd fail." Failing, of course, to keep the worlds in balance between light and dark. Bakura understood that they'd been screwed with that since even before Sith's disappearance from Egypt.

Suddenly, Bakura stopped. Sith's disappearance? That wasn't right. Sith didn't disappear. She had been right there… hadn't she? She had to have been! Seth ordered her to be found when she left for Kul Elna! He was the one who helped her escape, helped her to plan a defense for the remaining Espers before Zork – released by Bakura's foolishness – destroyed the metropolis. But why did it all seem so fuzzy? It shouldn't have been. He had taken great pains to remember the wars and the destruction. To remember _Sith_.

Yet there it was in black and white. He was beginning to forget, and facts that he knew were true, suddenly felt like lies in his head. Was Sith there to save Egypt from the aftershock of what Rath did? He no longer remembered. He knew he'd been alive for some of it… but the memory stopped there. When did Sith leave? When did he die? Was his world saved, or had it been crippled and rebuilt? Bakura no longer knew, and he didn't know why that was. It had all seemed so solid just days ago. Now, it was as ghostlike as he was.

"Yami, Sith _was_ there when Rath destroyed the old kingdom, wasn't she?" the thief asked, and his unusually nervous tone made Yami stop dead in his tracks. He glanced back, wondering why Bakura would even ask that.

"Of course she was," he replied, quicker than he meant, "She was the reason we lived through it."

"Then why don't I remember it anymore?" Bakura countered, and Yami frowned deeply. He also arched a questioning brow. He didn't exactly believe that. Bakura shifted uncomfortably, and said, "Call me crazy, but that part of my mind's feeling fuzzy." Now, Yami's skepticism turned to worry. Bakura might've been a thief, but he would never have forgotten that part of his life. It almost killed him.

"It… it is?" Yami asked him, and then realized that, as he was speaking, he couldn't actually recall most of Rath's tyranny in his kingdom. He remembered a lot of lives were lost, and that it had taken too many to stop her. But where had Sith been? He couldn't remember.

"Yami?" Bakura urged, when the pharaoh fell silent. Yami bit his lip, trembling. By gods, what was happening to his memory?

"How can we forget?" Yami whispered, looking up at the thief, "Bakura, Sith was our friend. How can we forget what happened? It destroyed us. It destroyed her. But the more we think…"

"The foggier it gets," Bakura ended bitterly, and Yami nodded, "Damn it. You think Rath had anything to do with it?" That dark look appeared on Yami again. Bakura actually backed away. He had a feeling he hit something big.

Turning to face Bakura, Yami nodded and said, "Doesn't she always? That's why we're here." When Bakura just stared at him, Yami sighed and said, "Bakura, she has the crown. She's tampering with memories. She's erasing Sith from time." And she may have succeeded. Bakura's eyes widened, and Ishtar's mouth dropped. Rath was getting rid of Sith. That would ensure that all worlds became twisted, once the effect was complete. Any good Sith did… would be no more!

"_Shit!_" Bakura hissed, as Ishtar said, "Tell me there's a damn we can do here."

"We're spirits, so we survived what Rath did to the others," Yami said gently, "But you both must've been hit somehow, to not know. Right now, we need to find Rath and get the crown back. At least long enough for Sith and Ryou to catch up." Bakura's expression flickered to terror. Ryou was still alive! But he wouldn't be for long; he was human and was no longer blessed with an Esper's weapon.

"Can't we do _more!_" Ishtar snapped, brows creased, "Sith's in trouble. Hell, we all are. But we're _spirits!_ There's got to be something!" Yami looked away. Truth was, he had no right to be interfering in Sith's kingdom at all. He was there because he had been her friend. Bakura was no different. But how far would the boundaries of friendship be pushed?

"Long ago, treaties across all of the worlds of old had been signed, forbidding kings to interfere with other worlds unless they were asked," Yami told Ishtar, reminded Bakura, "Sith was employed by me, which is why she could do so much. But it isn't like that any longer – Sith has returned to her own world." That was a load of bullshit, to the spirits who had been spoken to. And it was awfully convenient, too. Bakura and Ishtar exchanged glances.

"Are you telling me we sit back and do nothing?" Bakura challenged angrily, as Ishtar said, "This sounds like the kind of shit Rath would pull. How can we be so sure these treaties exist?"

"They exist. That is what keeps the worlds from bringing on catastrophic wars with each other," Yami said firmly, brows set, "As to what we can do… we can't stand around and not act. But we can only do so much. Breaking such treaties will alert _someone_, someone who isn't as forgiving as the Espers." The tone suggested there was no room for argument. And though Ishtar had no idea who was worse than an Esper, Bakura did. He looked at his old adversary and friend squarely.

"Kratz, the god of Death," he whispered, and Yami nodded, "Shit. He created those treaties, then there's no breaking them." Yami nodded again, letting out a deep sigh. Kratz was perhaps the most hotheaded god known to the universe. He supposedly created all races for his amusement, and created the terror known as 'magic' when that amusement went dry. Ironically, he also made the seals that kept magic in control, too.

"Okay, we're _not_ going up against him," Ishtar decided, to which they all agreed. Then, he looked around the black corridor, shivered, and said, "But there's something. Yami, what can we do that won't push the limits too far? What about the damage done to our world?" That was probably the only reason they could act, even now. And considering the damage Rath had caused in the past three thousand years, how much their world held in priority was a good question indeed.

Knowing his friends wouldn't be satisfied without an action, Yami said, "Considering that Sith's disappearance will directly lead our world into Rath's tyranny, I think we can go and at least try and snatch the crown. At the very least, we can lessen whatever forces she has here." Which was basically what he said five minutes ago. But it was enough, at least for Ishtar. The young spirit took out the Millennium rod. It hadn't been overly effective when it came to banishing Heartless, but now it was time to use it to its fullest extent. The same would be said of both Ring and Puzzle. He looked up at the two elder spirits. This was their final fight, and they all knew it.

"Let's see just how powerful the souls of Kul Elna are," Ishtar murmured, and felt Bakura stiffen with the words, "And let's see if we die sooner or later." The three nodded, but said nothing as they turned and ran down the corridor, to sights unknown. And maybe, to the rest they each deserved after their service to their world.

By the time Sith made it down to the last chamber, Xigbar was already waiting for her. And, as he promised, he had several member of the Organization with him – Demyx, Vexen, Lexaeus, and Luxord were there. But she was disheartened, and not surprised, to see that Saix wasn't there. Neither were Axel and Zexion. Visibly, she shivered at the thought of what happened, and remembered what Xigbar had said concerning Saix. He must've gone through an entirely different hell. And Sith didn't like it one bit.

Taking a deep breath, and keeping Zealacht out, she stepped into the chamber, before the five men. Not one of them had their weapons drawn. And when she looked at them closely, they seemed to be taking great pains not to look back. It was clear they were either ashamed, or afraid of her.

"All of you want to help me?" she asked, her voice cutting through the gloom like a sonic boom. Several ragged breaths were taken, but eventually someone answered.

"We know that if anything can uncover a heart, it's through what humans call love," Vexen said quietly, causing most of the others to look over at him, some surprised, others amused, "When we abandoned our hearts, it was through a lack of love for our world and our lives."

"And when a Nobody loves, that cures them?" Yugi asked, but at this, Vexen shrugged. He hadn't quite researched that far; not that he had Saix to even test it with. Sith just looked down. Secretly, it felt like they were trying to remind her why they captured her.

"We'll know when this is over," Luxord said to him, when no one spoke. Then he turned to Sith, held out his hand, "I know you feel as though we hate you. Rest assured it wasn't personal." Sith actually snorted, but out of consideration, she shook his hand.

"If you truly could feel, I'd have told you that that's a load of bullshit," she replied, and Luxord winced before letting go. The effect was achieved, so she said instead, "I'm glad you all came. Did Xigbar tell you what happened to three of your men?" Four grim nods were her reply. Good. Xigbar saved her some time.

"To tell you truth, we're almost surprised," Lexaeus stated, and Sith had to stand back and look up just to see him – he was a monstrously large man, but she was glad he was on her side, "Nobodies are made of the soul their human counterparts had. With a soul taken, they normally disappear forever." Sith shivered again, praying that Saix had a chance to come back. If he didn't… all of the quips and teasing he did would just make her cry. And she did not want to cry.

"Their souls are trapped in the crystals around this chamber." Sith dropped Zealacht when she heard that voice, and she looked past the men before her. The men in question all turned. In the shadow was a figure, and that figure stepped out.

He was a good five-foot-nine, clad in silver armor half-hidden by a green cape. His long, black hair was left to fall behind his back, though one large lock of silver hair framed the right side of his face. His ears were drooped with millennia of distress, and though his features were handsome and pronounced, the lines on his face showed he rarely smiled. He certainly wasn't smiling right then. As he stepped into the light, Ryou saw him up close. He looked almost exactly like Sith, at least in his expression. And in his hand was a sword similar to Zealacht.

"So, is this the only way I'll meet the man you finally love?" he asked, his voice sounding quiet and almost empty as he spoke. Sith's mouth dropped, and she tried desperately to say something to him. But she couldn't. Sceppiro was alive!

"Sceppiro!" she finally exclaimed, and threw herself at him. Both Espers tumbled to the floor, neither caring how hard they slammed into the ice. Sceppiro actually managed a laugh, ruffling his sister's hair, ignoring the fact that she was currently burying her face in his. And all the while, the others stared at them both in absolute disbelief.

"_You're_ her brother!" Ryou blurted, as Xigbar snorted and said, "I can see the resemblance." It was true. Sceppiro looked far more like Sith than Katt did. And when he glared up at both unfortunate men, he _really_ looked like Sith. A masculine, _pissed off_ Sith.

"Nice to meet you all as well," he growled, and in particular to Ryou, "I'm glad my sister regained her common sense along with her memory."

"_What!_" Ryou screeched, his dignity and character hurt, "Who in hell do you think you are!" He found out that was a huge mistake, and he learned when Sceppiro's power soared so much that his head hurt.

"_I_ am the _Prince_ of Nesce," Sceppiro snapped, "First Prince of the Throne, and Protector of the Queen herself." He glanced at his sister as he said this, and for a second, all of the pride he had for her was shining through. Then he returned his gaze to Ryou. It felt like judgment was being made. "And I can kill you for such an insult."

"I've lost enough guardians today, Sceppiro," Sith reminded him tiredly, "I'd like to have at least one when this is over." She didn't say that she also wanted to have Saix back, too. But Sceppiro seemed to guess that one by default. He chuckled.

"We do have hope," he said to her, and helped her to her feet before he too stood, "Rath trapped their souls within crystals, and threw their bodies directly into the Abyss." Sith glared. _That_ was the hope he gave her!

"What part of that is a _good_ thing?" she demanded crossly. Now, Sceppiro actually laughed. Sith may have been away for thousands of years… but she was still Sith. She was still bitchy.

"It is so cold that their souls can be contained for centuries with no deterioration," he replied simply, as though that would allay Sith's terror. Sith's eyes went flat. That was the hope she was awarded with. If Sceppiro weren't her brother, she'd have punched him.

"That'll be useful once I learn necromancy," Sith grumbled, "Just another three thousand years, and Kratz might just take me in and train me. By then, Saix won't have anything left to him but vague memories." Ryou heard Xigbar trying not to laugh hysterically, and already knew Yugi was failing at it. He wished he felt bad for Sith. But, in truth, at least Saix was still alive, in a sense.

"He might remember he loves you!" Demyx tried to help, and grinned, "He'll remember his first kiss."

"_You saw that!_" Sith screamed, and again, all five Nobodies nodded. What they didn't add was that Xemnas and Xaldin saw it, too. That might just be enough to kill her. Already, the mere thought made her skin turn red. But whether that thought was about Organization XIII spying on her, or about Saix, Ryou couldn't say.

"I didn't think Beast Boy had the gall to do it," Xigbar added unhelpfully, "Makes me wonder what makes him wait ten years to sire…"

"_Shut up!_" Sith yelled furiously, and she turned away so quickly that her wing swung back and forth stiffly. Xigbar just laughed. Then, they heard something that resounded all across the room. It sounded almost like a whimper, but… weaker.

"…Sith?" Yugi called quietly, and the laughter slowly fell when they realized the sound had come from her. Sith didn't look back. And they saw she was shaking. She was stiff.

"If this is how it'll be every time Saix comes near me, then you all can go to hell," she said, her voice breaking, "Why him? Why didn't any of you make fun of Mello? Or Ryou, eh? No one thought that was funny. But, no. You _laugh_ at my _husband!_"

"Sith, calm down," Ryou urged, but Sith wheeled on him, and he suddenly felt very small against this demon of an Esper.

"_You_ wanted to kill every man who went near me, so don't you _dare_ tell me to calm down," she snarled, "You wanted to kill Mello, and nearly did it, too."

"_He_ attacked _me!_" Ryou yelled back furiously, not feeling quite so small now, "Did you forget that! Did you forget that _he_ crashed our engagement!"

"An engagement which meant nothing," Sceppiro intervened, and both of them turned to him, "An engagement which would've lasted six months before you both realized how ridiculous your relationship was." Sith simply blinked as he spoke, but Ryou's whole world was rocked with fury. Sure, they had already come to that conclusion, but the fact that Sceppiro knew it made him angry. Why hadn't Sith warned him?

"You knew?" Ryou asked, the fury making his voice issue out like a squeak. He tried to keep it tempered, knowing his outbursts might make things worse, "Sith…" He looked at her. She seemed just as shocked.

"I control only myself," she told him, "What my brother and other guardians do is their business unless I purposely concern myself." Which, considering the respect they had for her, was probably very little.

"How many of you knew?" Ryou asked everyone in the room, though he looked directly at Sceppiro, "Aeon knew, and so did Mello. Hell, Katt knew, too. But… how many knew about me?"

"We all did." Ryou gasped, and both Sith and Sceppiro turned at that voice. Likewise, all present members of Organization XIII gave a collective shiver. A portal of darkness opened up near the far wall, between two large spikes of blue ice. And Xemnas stepped out of it, Xaldin right behind him. The latter had all six spears out; one of them, Sith saw, was stained with blood. No doubt it had to be Saix's blood.

"Xemnas!" Yugi cried, as Sith growled, "How dare you show your face here."

"I'd have thought you'd need my help," Xemnas said simply, brow arched as he tauntingly added, "Or do you not wish to see Number Seven again?" Ryou shivered as he felt Sith's insides churn. She wanted nothing more than to tear Xemnas apart. But she remembered what Sceppiro said. Saix was in the room, somewhere.

"Don't you dare act like you care about Saix," she snarled dangerously, and that simply made Xemnas smile, "You know you'd rather see him on a pike than see him with me. Your little lapdog nearly killed him." Xaldin growled at her when she said that, but she returned it with an equally feral snarl of her own. Xemnas looked at them both. He seemed to almost relax as he watched Sith. It unnerved Ryou.

"Already, you're letting your anger cloud your judgment," Xemnas murmured, walking, pacing around the woman, "It's a drug for you, isn't it, Sith? It's all you've had since your humiliating exile from Nesce." Sith's lips thinned, her eyes hardening as she glared up at him. His smile went smug.

"I was younger and far more foolish," she said, "Rest assured the anger I feel now is due to current events, not the past." She watched him without blinking, suppressed a twitch that bubbled up when he chuckled.

"Is it?" he asked, and stopped inches from her, "Your heart was already blackened when you found him. Why do you resist? Why did you try?" Sith shivered, glancing at Ryou. He understood what she was trying to say. He tried to give her a look of forgiveness, of sympathy. But why _did_ she use him? Did she know Organization XIII was after her?

"Our hearts are the one thing that belongs to us," Sith replied bitterly, eyes locked on his. He tilted his head, clearly intrigued. But his smile never vanished. Ryou swallowed hard, trying to understand what was going on. How long had he known Sith? It couldn't have possibly been long. Then he thought about Falnika, Amber, and the other Mystics Sith had fought. They had come after her because of a bigger entity. What if Xemnas was only part of something much bigger, and much older?

"Do they truly?" Xemnas asked her. Then he chuckled, reached out and grabbed her chin, forcing her to look at him, "Hearts are just tools, Sith. They get old, they get rusted. They stop working. How can you be so sure yours still works?" Sith's eyes narrowed. She _couldn't_ be sure, but she thought hers had. If it didn't… well, she was over four thousand. All things died eventually.

"Broken things can be fixed," she told him simply, and tried to jerk away. Just looking at him made her skin crawl in a way she didn't like. But Xemnas's grip was still strong. He chuckled again. Why not just laugh at her and get it all out?

"Hearts aren't meant to break, my dear," he said after a moment, "And no. Broken things can't always just _be fixed_." He looked down at her for a long time, watching, waiting for her to strike at him. But she didn't. She stared back just as intently. When no blows came for some time, he asked, "Do you know why we don't want Saix to have his heart back?"

"Because you people are raving lunatics who have no idea what you're doing?" Yugi suggested, and if they weren't in such immediate danger, Sith might've actually laughed. As it was, she glared at him. Stupid boy! Xemnas would have killed him for tone alone.

"True, we do appear mad to the eyes of beings of light," Xemnas said, before Sith could tell her friend to shut his mouth, "But take it from our side for a moment. What right does Saix have to find himself again while we all suffer?"

"What right do _you_ have to take it away?" Ryou interjected, and Sith sighed. Were they _asking_ to die? She'd have killed them herself if it meant Xemnas didn't get that honor.

Looking from Sith, to her two friends and final guardians, Xemnas said, "Saix's sole purpose is to see the completion of Kingdom Hearts and help us achieve such a power. He would not abandon it so readily, even for someone like Sith."

"Wrong," Ryou interrupted firmly, and Xemnas looked at him profoundly, "He might not for Sith, but he would for his sons."

"Sons who do not yet exist," Xemnas pointed out, and looked at Sith, "Sons that might never exist, now that you know your own fate. Do you not see, Sith? The future may not be the way you saw it. In fact, Saix may simply be a phantom to you." Sith didn't believe that for a moment, and neither had Ryou. He had seen how Saix acted toward Sith, playful yet strong enough to keep her under control. And Sith herself… well, no one could ever know what ran through the woman's muddled head. But she understood she cared about Saix, and that for the most part, he seemed to feel the same.

"Phantom or not, he still deserves a chance to decide for himself," Sith told him quietly, and Xemnas finally let go. His expression softened. She wasn't saying _she'd_ make the choice. She simply said she _wanted_ it to be a certain way.

"You would let him choose for himself," he mused, tapping his chin, "But… you would choose a false future over the one fate would give you?" Sith's lips thinned. She _wanted_ the choice to be with Saix. But it wasn't hers to make, and she knew the moment she met _Artemis_ that the future might not happen. The only reason Victor hadn't altered it was because he had the intelligence – she hoped from herself – to never reveal the secret until Ryou _needed_ to know.

"Fate is not kind for the races of magic," she said, "I don't envy humans for the simplicity of their lives and the shortness of their time. Theirs is a hard lot to begin with. But, if I had my choice, of course I would wish the false future. I just know that Saix deserves that choice, too." What she didn't say, and didn't want to admit, was that Saix was probably as terrified as she was to make that choice. She simply lived far longer, and had been alone for far more years. Mello had been a welcome reprieve from it.

For a long time, Xemnas said nothing. What could he say? He didn't understand kindness or love – the few vague memories he had of it were fading away with the passing years lacking a heart. But he did know Sith was speaking the truth. Saix did deserve his life, no matter Xemnas's agenda. The man's loyalty earned him that much. He hadn't even betrayed them, either. He simply toyed with and entertained the idea he began to consider so fondly. Sith merely supported him through it. And now she was willing to forego it so long as they got him back. She'd even live in the illusion that he had a heart. Did that make her beautiful, or just pathetically stupid?

The more he thought about it, the more Xemnas saw in her that Saix saw. Not that he harbored any romantic fantasy for her – in fact, Xemnas would rather not deal with Sith Winchester in any way. But it didn't negate the traits that he found he liked. Annoying as she was, Sith was a determined soul. Hell, she had spent three thousand years fighting an uphill struggle against her own kind and many others. This probably wasn't much more than that.

"To go against fate," he finally said, smiling oddly. Sith nodded slowly.

"I find fate to be a repulsive excuse to not do anything at all," she admitted, and heard Sceppiro snort somewhere in the back. Likewise, a lot of the Nobodies gathered shifted nervously as they heard Xemnas and Sith speak. "Life seems to me to be a battle of fate against heart. Which is more powerful? Who is to truly say?"

"Hearts can never be truly understood," Xemnas said gently, though now it seemed like he meant to say it to himself. When Sith looked up at him, he said, "You and few others have said this to me. I barely believe it, but perhaps _that_ is the downfall you think I'll have." Sith grinned. Actually, she thought his downfall would be in the form of a very sharp sword stuck up his very non-existent gut. The fact that she tapped Zealacht on the ice said as much. Xemnas laughed.

"Perhaps not?" he urged. Sith's grin went smug. She hated to brag, but she was an effective swordsman. She could do it. She'd killed phantoms and the like before.

"Let's see if fate can actually best me before we see about _you_," she suggested, in a way that said there'd be no arguments, "If fate wants me to die, I'd like to go spitting and cursing before my time is up. At the very least, fate deserves to hear my last, bitter thoughts on my life." The look on Xemnas's face said he agreed. It made Ryou wonder if perhaps he'd known Sith in his more human years.

Once the tension died down and everyone was relaxed enough to think, Sith saw to what Sceppiro said previously: that their friends were trapped within the crystals on the walls. She went to the closest ones, saw that they were cloudy. But as she touched it, something wasn't right. The crystal she touched was cold. From what she knew, anything holding a residual energy from a living being should have been warm – the strength of the victim's life force normally powered the crystal. Was it possible she touched Axel, Zexion, or Saix, and they simply had no actual life force within?

No, that wasn't it. She touched four other crystals, and all of them were ice cold. There were only three Nobodies. Now she was worried. She had never practiced the art of capturing souls, but she knew enough and saw enough to know something had gone wrong. Rath must have done something drastically critical to mess this magic up. Face pale, she turned to Sceppiro. When he saw the look on _her_ face, _his_ paled, too.

"Sceppiro, are you _sure_ Rath trapped everyone's souls?" she asked. Though Xigbar had been the one to tell her the bad news, she didn't exactly trust him to tell the truth. Sceppiro, on the other hand, had no reason to lie to his own sister.

"Their petrified bodies are all around us, Sith," Sceppiro told her. Sith stared. She hadn't seen any when she entered. Then again, the men who towered around her might've been the reason. Worried and now painfully aware, Sith ordered all of them to either move or duck. Many did; Xaldin just snarled until Xigbar smacked the back of his head. _Then_ he simply fell.

When Sith actually had a clear view of the room, she was quickly horrified. Sceppiro was right. The shadows from the portals, and the fact that Nobodies were several inches taller than was necessary, had hidden the destruction from view. But now Sith saw it in full. Mello and Aeon had been petrified as they sprung to attack; both had their weapons out. Ryuuzaki, Basch, and Kaiba shared similar fates, further back. Matt was petrified in wild terror, gun out and aimed, but the igniting blow had crumbled his gun before it fully petrified. Honda, Jou, Anzu, and Miho were frozen trying to escape. Victor and Artemis were frozen during an up-close battle; Artemis was caught between being sane, and going berserk.

Katt and Saix were perhaps the biggest blows to Sith's heart. Katt had been petrified in mid-air, and had obviously crashed into the unforgiving ground. Both her wings had been shattered, and her tail was severed. Saix had suffered far more than that, though, and as Sith approached him, she felt a sharp pain in her chest. Rath didn't just turn him to stone. She fought with him first. There were fresh tears on his cloak, new wounds that he hadn't had beforehand. At first, Sith thought they'd been from Xaldin's previous, merciless assaults. But, no, these had been caused by a whip. Xaldin specialized in spears only.

"He fought for you," Xigbar said, as Sith stepped closer and reached out to touch Saix's arm, "He said he didn't care what you did or what happened because of it. He just wanted you to be freed." Freed from the guilt that haunted her since those days. Sith shook. It had been so obvious to him. _She_ had been so obvious to him. To everyone, no doubt. Her eyes watered. Was it actually true?

"She wanted him dead for it," Sith whispered. Blood, fresh blood, had been petrified as it spilled over his arm. It felt smooth as wax, and Sith felt her insides churn. Xigbar looked down. Rath wanted far worse for Saix. She wanted to leave him so crippled and broken that Sith _couldn't_ help him. He simply wouldn't let it happen.

"Saix wanted to take it all," the older Nobody admitted, and for once, he sounded regretful, "He wanted to take it and make sure you wouldn't. He wasn't sure you'd survive the beating she'd give _you_." Sith shivered. How much abuse did Saix take before he let himself die? Her grip on his arm tightened, as though she could have reached out to him from it. That wasn't fair. Saix didn't deserve to take her pain with him.

"Why does he love me so much?" she finally asked, turning to face the others, "Why? What have I done other than cause him pain?"

"Damn good question, if you ask me," Xaldin growled, but Sith ignored him. At least he didn't have his spears out anymore. Sith looked beyond him, to the one person who might have those answers. To Xemnas. His look said he knew why, or at least guessed it. He smiled weakly at her. He remembered why he thought the heart was weak.

"You gave him a chance to change," Xemnas said point blank, and then amusedly added, "And while he didn't exactly _change_, he did see he could care about you. After, of course, many hours of snarling and griping about you first. Apparently, you were as much an ass to him, as he was to you." Sith wanted to say that he had started it, but she knew damn well that, once he was restored, he'd just hold it over her head if someone – Xigbar, mainly – told him about her tantrum. Her eyes narrowed.

"So he loves me because we're both arses to each other?" she concluded, but Xemnas shook his head. No, that wasn't it. Her sarcasm just made it easier for him to communicate with her. It was something else. Sith knew it, too. She just didn't know what it could've been. Taking a breath, she looked up at his face. He was completely enraged when Rath finally petrified him. His eyes were pupiless, his hair messier, and his scar far more jagged than normal. Sith smiled weakly. He had gone berserk.

"How badly does it hurt to see him like this?" Vexen asked her, and she turned, though her hand never left Saix's arm. She tilted her head, not understanding the meaning of the question. Vexen snorted, and then said, "As Nobodies, we feel nothing. But we're all curious; since you claim to care for Saix, how does it feel to see him like this?"

Sith thought about it carefully before saying, "It hurts my heart to know he let himself be torn apart time and again for me. But for now, he is safe."

"Not nearly so, sister," Sceppiro said, and that crashed Sith's hopes much the same way Xaldin had. She turned sharply to her brother. Damn him, he had said that Rath had only petrified him! What had he hidden now!

"Sceppiro," she growled furiously, and a ripple of terror ran through Ryou as he watched the older woman glaring at her brother. Then, in one bound, she crossed the chamber and grabbed his collar, pulling him close to her, "What has truly happened?"

"If she imprisoned their souls, yet they are not _here_, they are elsewhere," he replied, "Most probably in the voids themselves." Sith would've smacked him if she had the time. She dropped Sceppiro, backed away, her face paler than was healthy. Oblivion. They were sent straight into Oblivion! Not even the other Mystic lords had suffered such a thing. Rath was cruel beyond measure, to do that to _mortals_.

"She dies now," Sith spat, and turned directly to Xigbar, "Where is she? Where in hell is she!"

"Hey, hey, I never said…"

"Lie to me, twist my words, or make smart-ass remarks and I swear I will kill you first," Sith snarled viciously, "No soul stands a chance once they reach the voids. Tell me where she ran to, _now_." Her tone deflected any chance Xigbar thought he had at evading the answer. Now, it was a matter of life and death for him. He wanted to see this mess through. He sighed, shaking his head.

"You understand if you jump in, you might not come back out, right?" he said to her, and there was hesitancy in his voice. She knew damn well what might happen. She didn't care. So long as she took Rath out with her, anything that came afterwards was a blessing.

"She's thrown _my friends_ into the voids of death. I don't care if I come back out; I wouldn't leave without _all_ of them," she told him quickly, and her sword made her point stick. When Xigbar didn't speak again, she aimed it at him and said, "Think carefully on your silence."

"Sith…" Ryou began, not wanting it to end so brutally. She turned to him, yet her sword was still steady, pointing at Xigbar's chest. One thrust and he was gone.

"Ryou, I don't know what will happen, but I do know your friends deserve their lives," she said firmly, and gave neither him nor Yugi the chance to interrupt, "If I do die, know that I did so alongside Rath and that your world is safe forever. And if my guardians gather without me, tell them all that I rest in peace, and so should they." Ryou shivered, knowing well they'd do that only grudgingly without their Prince. But he nodded. An order was an order.

With that detail done, Sith turned back to Xigbar and said, "Open it. Now." Xigbar wanted more than ever to refuse, but he knew doing that would kill him. So, he sighed, turned, and waved his arm. A portal opened, but unlike the one he appeared in, this one was a spiral of black and white. Of absolute nothingness. He stepped aside to let Sith through.

Turning just once, she said, "Ryou, I'm sorry. You deserved far better than the pathetic lies I gave you." Then, she jumped in.

When she did, the universe went absolutely black.

-(End Chapter)

With nothing but ill omen, Sith, Ryou, and Yugi rush to the treasury to meet with Xigbar and the remaining members of Organization XIII who support her. Sceppiro appears to show Sith the truth about Rath's actions against her friends and family. And just when she can't take it, Xemnas appears to confirm Saix's death. Now, Sith has jumped into the void to end her bitter fight forever. Meanwhile, Yami, Ishtar, and Bakura are also in the void, looking to aid their old friend. But will the four meet up, or will Rath and Sith clash and end their fate prematurely? Find out next chapter, so click that Review button!


	22. Ryou's First Intervention

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or Kingdom Hearts. Takahashi and Square-Enix do… or did, before Rath _killed_ everyone. Sad Sith is so very sad for it, too.

Ryou wasn't sure what had happened. He saw Sith dive into the portal. He saw Sceppiro follow her. Then he saw nothing at all. Everything just… ended. Reality seemed to shatter, falling and breaking like the glass in the windows. Yet he was still very much alive, and knew it. He was breathing, after all. He still felt the chill of Aeroglyph's icy dungeons. He felt the pain in his body when he slid and fell, after the brilliant collapse of what had been and should be. But when he opened his eyes to see what had become, all he saw was… a swirling pulse of color. His mind couldn't comprehend it. He wasn't sure if he wanted to, though if he could, the color would be described as being akin to blood.

Looking around, he saw Yugi lying not far from him, face against the ground. He seemed almost motionless, but when Ryou came closer, he saw the younger boy breathing, seemingly asleep. But Organization XIII was nowhere to be seen, and when Ryou finally stood, he could see no signs of the petrified remains of his friends. He couldn't see the ice or the walls of the treasury. All he saw was that sickening blood-red.

"Sith?" Ryou finally dared to call. He wasn't surprised when he received no reply. Sith shouldn't have been there, anyway. By the sound of it, she hadn't expected to live. He'd been warned of the inevitable for years now, but the absolution of it sent shivers through him. She didn't deserve to die, not when she had barely a life to begin with. Not when she was fighting so hard for all of them.

Sighing, Ryou thought about what could be done now. He had no idea where they had ended up, but there had to be someplace they could go. There were no roads to guide him, however. If he went anywhere, he might never find his way back. Accordingly, he decided he'd better wake Yugi up before making any crucial decisions. At the very least, the boy deserved to _know_ before Ryou did anything of utmost stupidity.

"Yugi," Ryou called, shaking the boy, "Yugi, wake up!"

"Ry… Ryou?" Yugi yawned, opening his eyes. Then he realized something was wrong; Ryou's face said it clearly. That expression wiped all exhaustion away. Yugi was sitting up in a matter of seconds. "What happened!"

"I'm not sure," Ryou said grimly, lips thin as he tried to think of best how to not scare Yugi, "Sith jumped through the portal Xigbar opened. I woke up maybe ten minutes ago."

"Sith… _she's gone!_" Yugi exclaimed, eyes widening. Ryou nodded, wondering why Yugi was so upset. Yugi normally overreacted when something drastic happened… but this was actually different, now that Ryou looked at it. Yugi wasn't overreacting. He was genuinely terrified, genuinely upset.

"She jumped into the abyss. Didn't you see her?" Ryou asked. Yugi glared. Of course he had. He was hoping Ryou had the sense to drag her ass out before she broke through. Ryou, as usual, hadn't. Saix would have, at least until she took him with her. Yugi wished Saix were there.

"Don't you understand?" Yugi asked him, "Sith's fighting Rath. We might never see her again!"

"We weren't meant to meet her in the first place," Ryou answered firmly. Yugi's mouth dropped, unable to believe Ryou was saying that. Sith was their friend! Knowing this was hurting the small boy, Ryou said, "Yugi, I didn't understand it then, but I know why Mello came after me so fiercely. Meeting Sith fractured so many threads that he had to try and fix it." He froze momentarily, understanding more himself. Mello wasn't just being the overprotective lover. He had been acting as a _guardian_. Ryou interpreted it wrong. Sith knew better.

"So we ruined everything?" Yugi asked, more insulted than hurt. Ryou winced. That was harsh. But he knew Yugi was in pain. Sith was as much his sister as she was Ryou's. Hell, for that matter, she was more everyone's sister. A much older sister that no one wanted to listen to. Ryou sighed.

"Not _everything_," Ryou said, and after a moment, he said, "Sith would have caught up to Aeon and Mello… but she never would have met Saix without us. Organization XIII found her because of Amber's foolishness." Yugi smiled now. That took some of the sting out of Ryou's words, because Sith wanted nothing more than to be with Saix. Sith deserved that, if only that.

"Do you think everything will be okay?" Yugi asked. Ryou stopped and thought about it. Right now, he wasn't sure what was happening in any world. He didn't know where he was or if anyone else was there. All he could do was have faith in Sith.

'_If I have my say, it'll work out for all of us_.' Yugi and Ryou turned with a start. That was Saix! But his voice came from only a glowing, yellow ball of light. It pulsed gently, floating toward them slowly. Behind it, several others followed – the rest of the team!

"My god! We've found them!" Yugi exclaimed happily. He heard Katt chuckling.

'_We _are_ in the Endless Abyss_,' she said, a pink orb appearing next to Saix's, '_It's where all lost souls go when they can't go to heaven or hell._'

"So we're all dead?" Ryou asked. Now, Saix was laughing. Considering how much abuse he took in Sith's name, he should've been angry that he wasn't there to crush Rath. But his amusement was solely due to Ryou's stupidity – stupidity that existed only in Saix's mind.

'_No. We're all quite alive_,' Saix told him simply, '_You two even have your bodies. But life as we know it is forfeit until a victor is decided. Fate can't figure out who will win, and who _should _win._' Behind him, a light blue orb flared up, circling Saix.

'_Mother will win, father_,' Artemis said determinedly, '_She loves us too much to let that two-faced bitch rule._' Saix was silent save for a faint snarl. He hadn't forgotten the repeated lashings he received for defying Rath's will and refusing to forsake his wife. Or, as Rath put it, 'the wife that never will be.' To him, he decided when he learned about Artemis that Sith was his wife. Whether she wanted to be or not.

'_If Sith is as merciless as me, she'll let that bitch live just so I can take a few swipes at her_,' Saix finally growled, and spat, '_She insults my wife and then tries to kill her. After everything else she's done. I want that killing blow!_' Ryou guessed it was more to show off to Sith than to get any true aggression out. Saix certainly never said anything had ever personally been done to him.

"You… you think she's fighting Rath right now?" Yugi asked, and Ryou looked down at him. Yugi was looking down, and he shivered when he finished his question. Obviously, not everyone had as much faith in Sith's health as Artemis had. Ryou put a hand on his back.

"That would've been too easy," Ryou said honestly, "I know Sith. And I kind of know Rath. She'd either toy with Sith or prolong the suffering. And since we're all still alive, Sith hasn't found her yet."

'_You sure have some confidence there, Ryou,_' Mello commented with a laugh, '_What, did she knock some balls in you when she broke off the engagement?_' Ryou blushed heavily. Yes, she'd been harsh. He'd been equally as stupid. Still, Mello didn't need to laugh about it. Saix, Aeon, and Matt didn't need to _join_ him, either.

'_Well, it _is _Sith. She's good at that_,' Malik added, and the laughter increased. Until, of course, he said, '_Just warning you, Saix. According to Katt, Sith cut someone's off once for telling her she was 'hot.'_ The laughter suddenly just died. Ryou blinked, wondering who the unfortunate man was. And if, by some cruel twist of fate, he was one of their friends.

'_She… she did that?_' Saix asked, with more worry than he intended.

'_Ushio the hall monitor never recovered_,' Jou replied, and now Ryou found himself roaring with laughter. Ushio, the _cruelest_ bully in Domino, was actually castrated because of Sith. Sith, and a whole lot of stupidity on his part. It almost served the son of a bitch right. And Sith probably hadn't forgiven him for crashing her breakfast with Ryou three years ago. He just shook his head.

"That's our Sith," Ryou commented proudly, and Yugi laughed, adding, "Saving the world, one bad guy at a time!"

'_Does this mean I'll have to be good, too?_' Saix asked flatly. Ryou grinned. That was a good question. Sith had a strict moral code that she lived by, but she did like Saix when he was being an ass. It all depended on what his idea of 'good' was.

But as much as they loved joking, and as much as they liked thinking of Sith as a hero, the time for mirth came to a quick end. The remembrance that she still had a fight to face just made that mirth die even faster. For a long time, no one said anything. No one knew just what to say. Ryou glanced around; first at Saix's energy, then at the others. They were just floating. Were they waiting for him to do something? If so, they'd be waiting for a while. He was just as perplexed on the next move as they were.

Not wanting to let the time go to waste, however, Ryou said, "So, does anyone know why we're here?" He heard a snort somewhere. It sounded like it came from Saix.

'_Because my wife's cousin is insane?_' Saix countered, and received a laugh from Mello, '_Ryou, there's no reasoning here. We have as much idea as you would_.' Well, that certainly wasn't much help at all. Ryou sighed. There had to be some reason they'd be sent here; they were kept alive for _something_.

"I'm being serious," Ryou told him sternly, and turned toward Katt, "Katt, help me out. Surely you'd understand Rath's logic better than any of us." He could feel Katt's hesitancy. That wasn't exactly a good sign.

'_If I had to guess, she's probably using us for leverage_,' Katt suggested after a moment, '_Sith's attachment to family is her biggest weakness. Rath won't hesitate to use one of us as a shield. Sith would stop her attack instantly if Victor or Artemis were chosen_.' For that matter, she'd probably stop for the others, as well. Ryou didn't like this. Sith was in too much danger. Too many factors could turn this against her too quickly.

"Think Organization XIII is still with her?" Yugi asked. That immediately got Saix's attention, and Yugi physically felt the weight of Saix's gaze upon him. It was like staring at a demon waiting to destroy you. Yugi shivered.

'_What!_' Saix demanded, in a snarl that suggested he was on the brink of berserk. Ryou stiffened. He didn't want to do anything that'd put Saix's spirit in danger; using too much energy might just do that.

"Xemnas and the others came to help Sith," Yugi replied. Saix's anger rose, and it was a potent emotion. Next to him, Artemis tried to remain as calm as possible. But the thought of his mother in Xemnas's clutches again made him just as pissed. How could Ryou let that happen!

'_I think you'd better tell us what happened up there before Berserker Boy loses it again,_' Honda told both Yugi and Ryou, '_You don't want to know the property damage he caused when he saw Rath_.' Ryou also didn't want to know the multiple injuries the man suffered due to his rage, either. He looked at Saix's energy. It was darkening in color. Honda had made a valid point.

"Sith told Xigbar to bring everyone who was willing to help her here," Ryou began nervously, and he heard Saix's snarl worsen, "He did so, but Xemnas must've found out. He came only a few minutes after Sith and I got there."

'_Did he attack Sith?_' Aeon asked. He was relieved when Ryou shook his head.

"All they did was talk. Most of it was about Saix, but some of it was about fate, too," Ryou told him seriously, "But when Sith tried to release you all from the crystals in the room, she found out you weren't there. She… she told Xigbar to open the portal to wherever Rath went." That was all Aeon needed to know. He looked at Mello, Saix, and the rest of Sith's guardians. They all seemed to understand what that entailed. They might not see their queen again.

'_We have to get to Sith and help her,_' Matt finally said, zipping around like a lightning bolt. Ryou and Yugi agreed, but the problem was leaving this realm. They weren't sure they could.

Turning to Katt, Ryou asked if there was. At first, the Esper was hesitant, taking almost five minutes before she even thought of an answer. Then, quietly, she said, '_Normally, no. But you might be able to_.'

"How?" Ryou asked, and when she hesitated again, he said, "Katt, this is your sister! We have to do what we can, or she could…"

'_Don't you dare finish that sentence_,' Katt growled with sudden anger, her orb flashing red. Then, settling down, she said, '_You both are still alive, and your bodies are intact. There must be a way to manipulate the space here and send you back to Aeroglyph. At least, the _real _Aeroglyph._' Yugi looked up at Ryou, wondering what that meant. Ryou seemed as confused as he was.

"We weren't in Aeroglyph?" he asked. Katt chuckled.

'_We still are, but it's not the Aeroglyph that should have been_,' she replied, '_It's made up of the fragments of Sith's memories. It's the Aeroglyph Rath is shattering._' Ryou could only imagine the effect that would have on the actual world. Especially if Sith was now the only Esper alive to remember it.

Realizing another problem that had to be solved, Victor said, '_If this realm is made from mother's memories, maybe you could even figure out where it was when Rath vanished her from your world, and put things back the way they were._' Ryou hadn't even thought of that. That would probably be a good idea. He turned to Aeon.

"What year did Sith leave Egypt?" he asked. Aeon was startled with the question. It happened so long ago, and happened so quickly. The chance of finding the exact day, the exact hour, the exact _second_… that would be nearly impossible. Ryou would have to go through every one of Sith's memories to do it.

'_You'll probably be better off going and stopping Rath from opening the gates of Oblivion at all,_' Basch told him instead, and Aeon's shock just grew. That was even further back, and Sith was merely a child! And when he said this, silence gripped Ryou. Sith was a child… and far more vulnerable. If Rath found an easier way to get back to that time, she could kill Sith and let her own past self take control of the throne!

Without warning, Ryou grabbed for Aeon's orb. For Aeon, it looked like Ryou had grabbed his collar, pulling him closer and glaring right at him. Whether it was a coincidence, or Ryou instinctively knowing where Aeon was, the time-keeper couldn't say. And he didn't care, not at that moment. Forcefully, Ryou said, "Tell me what year _that_ was. _Now!_" Visibly, Aeon winced.

'_I would love to, but Ryou, finding the exact second that any of it happened will be nearly impossible at best,_' Aeon said softly, and Ryou could hear in his voice that he was telling the truth, '_You may even do more harm than good_.'

"But we have to help Sith!" Ryou cried in frustration, letting go of the man, "She's our friend. She's our queen. She's Saix's wife, and she is Victor and Artemis's mother. We have to stop this before everything she's worked for is destroyed." Aeon hesitated, but truth was truth. Sith deserved to live as much as they all did. And even if it was nearly impossible, there was the slim chance that it could work.

'…_the year was 2482 B.C._,' Aeon said, much to the chagrin of Mello, '_Sith was barely three hundred years old, and would not have matured by then._'

"And Rath?" Ryou asked him squarely. Aeon's expression hardened.

'_Rath is several centuries older, and most likely was mature enough to understand the full responsibility of her actions_,' he replied bitterly. Ryou nodded, turning toward the deepest pulses of color. He could feel energy swirling, forming a vacuum. It had to be a wormhole of some sort. He glanced at Yugi. He wasn't going to ask if the small boy was coming or not.

He ran three steps before Mello stopped him. Turning, he looked at the blonde man. Mello said, '_Sith told me only a few parts. But she said that the gates to Oblivion are in Aeroglyph's castle. Ryou, whatever Sith was trying to protect here, that's where it all happened._' Ryou smiled. That was the best advice he could've asked for. With a salute to them all, he turned again. Then he dove right into the first dark pulse he found.

He felt himself fall through the darkness, seeing nothing, hearing nothing for the longest time. He felt the wind howl beneath him, propelling him forward. It was cold, like the wintry air of Nesce. Then, he began to see a faint light – the end of the corridor. He narrowed his eyes as it grew in intensity, grew in size, until it was big enough to swallow him. He fell right through, into the light.

He landed in a bedroom, on the floor. And next to him, Yugi fell as well. After making sure the boy was all right, Ryou stood up, looked around. Wherever he was, it looked modern enough. A single bed, a dresser, a bookcase filled with books and weapons. There were no pictures, no personal artifacts, save for a single, broken pistol on the bed. But Ryou recognized that pistol: it was the broken one Mello had given Sith when he arrived in Domino, looking for her. Ryou frowned, eyes watering. Mello was looking for her even now. But he should've gone back further than this.

Looking out the window, Ryou saw that he was not in Aeroglyph, was not even in Nesce. He recognized the city, but only vaguely. It was Algon, though it was before Rath had decimated the city. His frown grew. This was Sith's room. He must've landed in her family's house before she even left to find him. Before Katsaiga had tried to intercept her.

Yet, as he walked out into the hall, it was far too quiet to be a residence. All of the other bedroom doors were closed, and there was no sound downstairs, save for a roaring fire. Quietly, leaving Yugi in the room, Ryou tiptoed down and peeked over the banister. There was a large counter, and a dining area; a smaller common room was off to the side, but there was no one inside for right now. It all felt so out of place.

"Is this an inn?" Yugi asked, and Ryou nearly jumped. He hadn't expected Yugi to wake up so quickly.

"I don't know," Ryou whispered, and went down a few more steps, "We should have landed in Nesce, but we're in Algon instead." Yugi was about to follow him, and stopped when he heard the name. They'd been there only once.

"Isn't this where Sith lived before you met her?" he asked. Ryou nodded.

"Yes, though I have no idea if she was any younger or not. If she is, landing here might make more sense," Ryou said, and when Yugi stared, he added, "If Oblivion is being made up of her memories now, there would be two points of her 'being young.' This is the closest one to our own era." Yugi nodded slowly, deciding that understanding any of it would just make his head hurt.

"So, if we're in her memory, where's Sith?" he asked, as they stepped onto the first floor. Ryou glanced around, and when he found no one in either room, he moved toward the front door. It was unlocked.

"That's what we need to find out, no doubt," Ryou said grimly, "There's a reason we ended up here, even if it's just to observe." Then, he opened the door to the outside.

Algon may have been standing, but it was still quite dead. Ryou stepped out and felt no life whatsoever in the city. The sky was pale blue, but the wind was dead and the air was cold. The trees had lost their leaves already, the ground turning brown with the coming winter. He walked down the road, with Yugi by his side. He saw no sign of anyone else in the city; the shops and houses they passed were closed, the windows dark. He led Yugi down the road and turned at a smaller, dirt path. He had no idea why, but he felt he had to go this way.

Algon was not a big city. He wasn't surprised that there was only one main road, and any branches from it were made of dirt, not cement. The dirt path he took led them toward a small hill, overlooking a creek that wove through the city, dividing the eastern and western sections. There was a well there, though he had a feeling there was little water in it. But as he came closer, he understood why he felt pulled here. Zealacht was leaning against the well. He stared at the purple blade. And then, he looked up.

Sith stood on the hill, her back to him. She was kneeling, looking over something. Yet something was wrong. She felt… hurt. Depressed. Mournful. He crept closer to her, and saw she was trembling. Quietly, he looked over her shoulder. And he saw the source of her sadness. The body of a young woman, perhaps four years younger than she was. But the similarities were not missed; the woman had black hair, though it was much shorter, and left loose as opposed to Sith's low ponytail. She had the narrow nose, nearly the same build. She simply lacked the wings, the ears, the tail, and the sharp features Sith possessed.

"Why?" Sith asked quietly, wiping blood from the woman's face, "Why did they come for me? Why did they wait… for so long?" Ryou backed away. This wasn't what he expected; Sith seemed to have only a vague clue of her kidnap when he met her.

Sith didn't notice him. She continued, "I'm sorry. They mistook you… for me. It was a rash act, no doubt it made the Mystic who did it panic. You didn't deserve it." Ryou looked down, wondering what was going on. Then, he heard rustling behind him, turned, and saw Katt walking out from nowhere in particular.

"She didn't," Katt agreed, laying a hand on Sith's shoulder, "But good may come from this. She looked like you." Sith nodded. Katt continued, "You need to disappear from their eyes. This woman's death may be able to do that." Sith turned sharply, eyes narrowed.

"No good comes from another's death!" she snapped furiously, wings shivering. Katt barely flinched.

"It does when her family can be fooled with magic," Katt replied, and Sith's mouth dropped open, "Sceppiro had an idea. We need to start right away, before anyone finds out she was killed." Sith was frozen in horror. Katt had to carry her just to get her to move, and all the while, she kept talking. Yet her voice was slowly fading, fading as she faded, as the memory seemed to slow. Ryou just watched, unable to believe what he saw. What had Katt and Sceppiro done to Sith?

"They… they erased her memories themselves," he whispered, tears falling as Yugi ran toward him, "No wonder Katt knew so much when Sith didn't. No wonder Sith didn't recognize Yami or Bakura."

"But why? Why couldn't they gather her guardians and fight Rath here?" Yugi asked him, looking up, "Why do that to her?" Ryou shook his head. He didn't know, and didn't want to know. Katt must have done something, must have fed her some story to help her along. Sith had been pretty convinced she had been adopted. Until, of course, she found herself in the In-Between with Bahamut himself.

"I… don't know," Ryou finally said, and turned to him, "But I do know this. This worked in Rath's favor, gave her too much time to catch up. Yugi, I think this is something Victor wants us to fix."

"But wouldn't that destroy the future!" Yugi suddenly asked, alarmed. Ryou bit his lip. It might, but one Mystic's botch gave Rath enough time to kidnap Sith. It might mean he never met her, never knew her at all. That was a price he knew he'd have to pay if it meant stopping Rath.

Without a word, he took the woman's body, and walked back toward the main road – Yugi followed silently, wondering what Ryou was planning to do. He walked until he found a dark alleyway, and gently, he put the woman's body down, near the entrance. Someone would see it if they passed, and might recognize her. They'd have to report her, at least. His plan was simple – as long as the _real_ Sami had been discovered, Katt's illusion would be absolutely forfeit relatively quickly. So long as neither Katt nor Sceppiro found the body first.

Yugi wasn't thrilled. He caught onto the plan, could scarcely believe Ryou was doing it. Eyes wide, he said, "Are you insane! If they tell that woman's parents, Sith will never meet us! She'll have no choice but to flee!"

"She'll be a step ahead of Rath, and she won't have to waste the time training us for something we failed to do anyway," Ryou said calmly, "Besides, in her heart, she'll remember us." Yugi wanted to believe that. He truly did. But too much was at stake – too much for his heart, and for Ryou's. He knew he'd have to just grin and bear it all.

Yet, as they walked back toward the inn, he found he couldn't. It wasn't just their encounter this would affect. It was everyone Sith met _afterwards_. Kaiba, Ryuuzaki, freeing Katsaiga, freeing Falnika, and then… Saix. Yugi shook his head and said, "Ryou, we can't do this." Ryou turned around, the sound of his friend's shaking voice ringing out clearer than his own thoughts.

Desperately, Yugi said, "Ryou, if she doesn't meet _us_, she will never meet Ryuuzaki or Kaiba, two of her guardians. Katt will never meet Malik. And Sith will never meet Saix. We can't do it. We can't do that to either of them." Ryou looked down and sighed. He didn't want to, either, but Katt's foolishness had to be fixed. Besides, if Organization XIII knew about Rath's men dipping into the darkness, they'd have come after Sith eventually. Yet, that still left out Ryuuzaki and Kaiba.

"Then what do we do?" he asked Yugi, who said nothing, "I knew Sith's memories were stolen, but I never once thought it was from Katt. Sami deserved a proper burial, not to be dumped in a well or buried in a forest where no one found her body. Her family deserves to know their daughter is _dead_, not an _Esper_ they'd never know."

"All right, fine," Yugi cut in, expression hardened with anger, wanting to hear nothing more, "Sami deserves peace. You're right. But how badly do you think this'll destroy our own time?" Ryou couldn't say.

Soon enough, he would never know. His actions took immediate effect; some survivor must've spotted the body and reported it. As Yugi's voice trailed, they turned and saw the world dissolving into black sparks, swirling in a great vortex that began to devour the city. The streets came up as easily as the dirt pathway, and buildings were torn apart in less than a second. Yugi screamed, not understanding what was happening. Ryou simply grabbed his wrist and ran as fast as he could. It did nothing. The vortex continued to grow in power, devouring the land and ripping apart the sky like the pages of a book. Soon, Ryou found himself being hurled upward by the wind, somersaulting out of control until he wound up within the vortex. Spinning, spinning into a new time, a new place. He knew he was going into a different memory.

He and Yugi fell onto the ground with a muted thud. Whatever they had landed on, it was far softer than the wooden floor they'd crashed into previously. As Ryou twisted around and looked up, he saw the room was dim and a deep grey, the floor made of black marble. Currently, they were lying on a thick, red carpet in the center of the room, and heat came pouring out of a fireplace in front of them. Ryou slowly sat up, and saw a bed in the corner of the room. Another bedroom. It had to be Sith's – he saw Zealacht standing upright in the far corner, along with a very familiar, sleeveless, blue tailcoat. Quietly, he walked over to it, feeling the leather against his hand. He could feel the chill of the enchantment within the coat, and smiled. Sith had to be close.

Gesturing for Yugi to keep silent, Ryou tiptoed toward the cracked door. It led to a small hallway, yet he didn't step out. As he came closer, he heard voices. They were faint, possibly on the lower floor, but he could hear what was being said. The first thing he heard was Mello's voice, "I can't tell her, Matt. She won't understand, she might even go after Kira himself."

"Don't you think it's more harmful to keep it from her?" Matt countered, and Ryou bit his lip as the red-head continued, "Mel, come on. Are you serious? She's your girl, isn't she? Doesn't she deserve to know?"

"Not at the cost of both her life and mine," Mello grumbled, and Ryou heard him sigh, "Matt, I don't get it. I didn't have this problem when we were in Ross's gang. Sith knew better than to fight with me over Kira. But now, she's… she's different. And I'm not sure what's wrong with her."

"She loves you, plain and simple," Matt told him, and there was an edge to his voice that bewildered Ryou. He heard another sigh, though which it originated from, he didn't know. It could've easily been from Matt.

"I know…" Mello said quietly. Ryou knew where they were, and knew instinctively why they'd come here – Sith was broken when Mello left, and he had a feeling the blonde idiot didn't even say a farewell to her. That was a mistake, at least on Mello's part. That was what made Katt tell Sith to give Ryou a chance. A chance he wasn't ready for, to say the least.

Without warning, Ryou burst out of the room and ran down the stairs. He couldn't let Mello make that mistake again. Sith needed something only he had, and as much as Ryou tried, he couldn't replace Mello. Even if Mello wasn't the one Sith ended up marrying. That didn't matter. Mello was a part of her life, and Ryou knew it had to stay that way, for whatever purpose it served. He ran down, stopping just before the last step, and crouching to hide behind the banister. He remembered that both men liked carrying guns, and at least one of them had to be armed. They didn't know him yet, and might shoot him. He had to wait.

"So, you're going to do the right thing and tell her, right?" Matt asked, after a period of silence. Mello didn't answer right away. He wanted to; Ryou could feel his desire to tell Sith and make sure she wouldn't worry, or go after him. But something was stopping him, something big.

"…Kira isn't the only one I promised her I'd destroy," Mello finally said, and Matt put down his laptop long enough to look up and stare, "I promised I'd help her kill Rath." Ryou's jaw dropped, now realizing the severity of Mello's sudden death. He _promised_ to help Sith!

"Rath?" Matt asked, clearly confused. Obviously, now was just when Matt took his own vow as a guardian – how else could he not know Sith's greatest enemy?

"Sith's cousin, the reason Sith came here, and probably one of the reasons the Death Note fell into our world," Mello told him, "Boredom or not, these Death Gods aren't stupid. She doesn't believe for a second one of them would be foolish enough to give it to us out of _boredom_." To tell the truth, Matt hadn't believed it, either. The red-head tapped his chin. Another entity would make more sense, might explain some things they weren't seeing. Such as the inability to find a shred of magic in the damn book.

"So Sith thinks her cousin is involved?" Matt asked. Mello nodded grimly.

"Partly, at least. And I don't disbelieve her," Mello said firmly, leaned back in his seat, and crossed his arms, "Damn it, Matt. I'm torn. We have to catch Kira. But if Kira's a pawn, we're leaving Sith wide open if we fail, and Kira finds her next." The set of Matt's mouth said he felt the same way. Ryou wasn't sure what he thought he could say to either of them.

"I'll take care of her," Matt finally said, and Mello's eyes narrowed angrily, "You said you're not living through this. I'm not going to intentionally kill myself. If I escape just fine, I'll make sure Sith's okay. I'll help her." For a minute, it looked as though Mello would lose his mind. Then, his expression softened, and he looked at Matt. He smiled warmly. He needed to hear someone was going to help his girl.

"Thank you, Matt," Mello replied, and genuinely meant it, "Just… make sure Sith knows I love her, okay? Tell her she was the best damn thing to walk in my life, and make sure to tell her I was a colossal idiot for ditching her like this." Matt suddenly took off his goggles. He was glaring right at Mello now.

"You're not going to tell her!" he practically yelled, and Mello winced. Then, he frowned, shook his head.

"She won't stop me if she doesn't know," the blonde said seriously. Matt didn't buy that for a second. If anything, she'd do far worse than that.

"Mello…" he growled furiously. Ryou knew now that if he didn't do something, Sith would end up in his world in less than three weeks, with no chance of changing her course.

"I think you need to tell her," Ryou said suddenly, jumping up and revealing himself. Two guns clicked and were aimed right at him – one from Matt, one from Mello. Both of them were armed, after all.

"Who the _hell_ are you?" Mello demanded harshly. He was very close to letting off a warning shot. Only Matt being in the proximity of friendly fire kept him from actually doing it. And when Ryou didn't answer, he said, "Tell me or I'll shoot your damn head off." Ryou never considered that he'd have to explain his own presence. He paled.

"I'm… I'm a tenant on this floor, but I'm new here and bumbled into the wrong apartment," Ryou lied, hoping he was convincing them more than he convinced himself, "I overheard you both on the way out." Matt just stared, but Mello wasn't as shocked. His eye twitched a little bit.

"Are you serious!" Mello exclaimed. Ryou laughed nervously, knowing he still had to explain Yugi.

"I did wonder why my apartment wasn't cleared out," Ryou replied. Mello grumbled, shook his head, and grumbled again. That was just pure stupidity from Ryou. Fractionally, he lowered his gun. Whoever this moron was, he wasn't a threat.

"Well, get out. This is _our_ place," Mello said simply, and pointed to the door, "Next time, make sure to ask for a damn room number, and _don't_ spy on your neighbors. Just a thought so you don't get shot." Ryou chuckled again, and walked down the stairs. Mello held the door open for him, though he wasn't sure if that was kindness or just a want for the boy to leave faster.

Before he stepped out, though, he turned to Mello and said, "But… seriously, tell her. I don't know who 'she' is, but she deserves to know if you're leaving. Especially if you love her." He continued on his way, and didn't look to see what Mello's reaction was. He didn't care when he heard a door slam behind him. He just kept on walking.

Inside the apartment, Mello pressed his body against the door in case Ryou came back, but the boy was gone. Then, slowly, Mello let himself slide to the ground. Matt watched silently, but neither said a word. Mello just sat there, eyes wide and staring at nothing. Then, he just cried. He didn't sob – Mello was above that level of drama – but tears splashed onto the floor, onto his clothes. He no longer knew what was right or what mattered.

Nervously, Matt asked, "You okay, man?"

"…get my cell phone," Mello said, his voice raspy from his tears, "I have a call to make." Matt nodded, and then ran into Mello's room to find the phone. Mello just sat there, wondering what he'd say to Sith when she picked up his call.

-(End Chapter)

Ryou and Yugi are trapped in fluxes of time, and must sort through the world of Sith's memories. Through it all, they'll attempt to patch up the holes Rath, Katt, and Sceppiro created – to either destroy or protect Sith – that have caused the universe to fall into chaos. But for what purpose has Rath sent them there? What memories must be saved, while others are torn apart? What effect will it have on the present time? Find out next chapter, so click that Review button!


	23. Ryou's 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Interventions

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, Kingdom Hearts, Castlevania, or Death Note. Right now, there's a dispute going on in the Square-Enix courtroom, so we're not sure who owns what. But I was assured it wasn't me.

As Ryou walked out of the apartment complex, he was acutely aware of the fact that, in his rush to get out before he was killed, he forgot one very important thing in Mello's apartment: Yugi. He wasn't sure how, but he managed to completely forget that the boy had been left in Sith's bedroom, alone, and with no idea what was going on or why it was happening. At first, Ryou felt terrible. What kind of friend _was_ he! Then, he felt like he had to go back. If he was fast, he could catch Mello before the memory slipped away. He turned to run back, and found he didn't need to.

Yugi hopped down from the awning, and landed on his feet on the ground. Ryou jumped back, amazed the boy had the reflexes to land the move. For a second, both of them stared at each other, with Yugi grinning the whole while. Then, they both just laughed. Shaking his head in amusement, Yugi asked, "Do I want to know what you did in there? I heard a gunshot go off."

"I told Mello to tell Sith he loves her," Ryou told him, and Yugi stopped laughing, "I told him to tell her he has to leave. To not make her wonder where he is for twenty years." Yugi's expression turned grave, and Ryou knew he was wondering the consequences of their actions. Ryou didn't blame him; he wondered the same thing.

"What do you think Sith will say?" Yugi asked, and they both turned to walk down the street, which was beginning to thin as the afternoon sun began to set. Ryou hummed as they walked. He couldn't begin to guess what she'd say, but he had a feeling she'd probably storm right back and stop Mello from whatever insanity he was planning. If Mello even gave her that chance.

"She'll either scream or cry, but she won't know _what_ to say," Ryou finally said, and they stopped when they reached the end of the block. They turned to each other, and Ryou looked down at Yugi, "I know you're worried. I promise I'm not doing anything that'll destroy our lives."

"Not having Sith will do that," Yugi whispered. Ryou said nothing, and saw Yugi's eyes watering up. Sith was important to both of them. But their births didn't depend on her. Nothing in their lives truly did, except their friendship with her. Friendship that Sceppiro said wasn't real. Gently, Ryou hugged Yugi.

"I know how you feel," Ryou admitted, and let out a sigh, "Yugi, when this is through and we get back to our time, we'll go to Nesce and see for ourselves what we've done, all right?" He let go and stood back. Yugi wiped the tears away, and nodded. It wasn't much, since Sith might not know them. But it would be enough.

"Okay," he replied, and after a moment of thought, added, "Let's take Yami and Bakura. She'll still be their friend, right?" Ryou wanted to say yes, but he realized that if they stopped Rath at the second of her madness, Sith might not need to go to Egypt any longer. She might not meet Yami or Bakura at all.

Not wanting to upset his friend any more than he was, Ryou smiled and said, "Yes. She will be." Yugi smiled weakly. Then they both turned back toward the street.

Ryou's work was going quickly. Already, they saw the city dissolving into those black sparks again, and didn't try to escape from the spiraling vortex that swallowed the remnants of that memory. They fell through the gaps easily this time, though where they ended up would be as much a surprise as the last time. Ryou closed his eyes when the doorway of light came all too quickly.

The next place they landed was not what they expected. There was no rug to catch their fall, and they didn't land in a bedroom of any sort. At least, it didn't look like a bedroom. It was a large chamber, with a stairway hidden way in the back, and an entrance behind Ryou that led into darkness. Inside of the chamber was a table on one side – a small dining area, perhaps? – with three chairs around it. On the other side were couches arranged around two additional tables, on top of a white rug. The walls were made of chrome on all sides, save for the back wall, which consisted of a giant window that looked out over a city far below.

Ryou walked to the window, and looked up. He saw something he recognized, something he never thought he'd see. Kingdom Hearts. It was pink at that time, and smaller than he remembered. But the sight made him shiver. He had a feeling he knew where they ended up. But why they did… well, this couldn't be part of Sith's memories… could it?

"Two new members, eh?" Ryou heard Xigbar's voice from the dark entrance, and both he and Yugi dove behind one of the white couches, "Wow, a banner day for us. Who found 'em?"

"To hell if I know," Xaldin's voice felt awfully close. Ryou shrunk against the leather, and peeked out to see the two Nobodies walk right through the entrance. Xaldin looked around, arched a brow, and then shrugged. He turned to Xigbar, "Xemnas merely said 'Come to the Round Room.' I don't question his orders." Considering that Xemnas's orders pitted Xaldin against Sith, Ryou felt he probably should have.

"Oooh, must be serious to call us _there_," Xigbar pointed out with a grin. Xaldin wasn't nearly as enthralled. He grunted unhappily, setting one of his spears against the couch.

"Or perhaps those brats need me to whip them a bit before we send them on a mission," the bigger Nobody suggested. Ryou shivered again. Xaldin was more than capable of harming anyone else in Organization XIII. But Xigbar, surprisingly, wasn't concerned about that thought.

"They're not _babies_," Xigbar told him, "They probably just need introductions."

"Well, whatever they need, we're to report to the Round room as soon as possible," Xaldin said. Xigbar sighed, then nodded. Might as well get it over with. Ryou watched as the two Nobodies went up the stairs, and didn't move until he heard a large door closing on a floor above. He hesitated, and then stood up. No one else was in the room.

"What was _that_ about?" Yugi asked, as they moved around the couch and into the center of the room. Ryou crept toward the stairs and looked up. There was no one at the top. He turned and shrugged.

"My answer's as good as yours," he replied with just as much confusion. Looking around the room, he continued, "This isn't one of Sith's memories, though. She never mentioned Organization XIII to anyone, and I'd have thought she would have." Yugi thought the same, at least in the regards that they were in jeopardy thanks to the Nobodies.

Then, he had another idea. Looking up, Yugi asked, "What if this is part of _Saix's_ memories?" Ryou's brows creased. If that was true, why where _they_ swimming in them? Saix had nothing to do with Sith until about six months ago, when Xemnas first learned of her. He couldn't see the connection. Not yet, anyway.

"If it is, what should we be doing?" Ryou asked him. Yugi hummed. That was a damn good question. Maybe they were supposed to simply observe.

"Think we should go and see his initiation?" Yugi suggested. Ryou nodded. There wasn't much else they could do, and there had to be some reason they ended up in one of _Saix's _memories. Something here had to tie up with Sith in some way.

The only way to know was to go and see. Ryou and Yugi walked up the stairs, into the white hallway above. There were closed doors on either side, but the hall ended with an elevator that went downward; another staircase leading upstairs sat at the opposite end. Quickly, and without understanding how he knew where to go, Ryou pressed a button and summoned the first car he could. They both stepped inside, and the elevator silently slid down through the floors until it went into the first basement.

The passage was short before it ended with a set of double doors. They were partly cracked, and Ryou stopped before them, hiding in the shadows. Bursting in there was an even worse idea than trying to sneak up on Matt and Mello; there was no doubt Xaldin would kill them if they did it. Yugi also understood this, and hid next to Ryou. Then, they waited, listening. They were awarded almost instantly.

"Greetings, my dear friends," Xemnas began, and Yugi glanced at Ryou as the man spoke, "Today is a glorious day. We have not one, but two new members joining our ranks. Let me introduce them… Saix, Axel, you may step forward." Ryou peeked in, and saw both of them step into the center of the room. Axel was grinning, waving like it was his big debut. Saix… had his hood up and looked like he had no interest being there at all. Five other Nobodies sitting on thrones that nearly reached the ceiling clapped.

"What's going on?" Yugi whispered, being unable to see because of Ryou's height. Ryou stared a second longer before he realized he'd been asked a question. He turned to his friend.

"Saix and Axel joined Organization XIII," he replied, and turned back, "Saix looks… really unhappy." Saix had slipped off his hood, and surely enough, the man was already set deep with a frown. Ryou felt a cold shiver rippling down his spine. He'd never felt such anger before.

"Should we do something?" Yugi asked, as Xemnas began to speak again. This time, neither of them were paying attention; now that they found Saix, it was time to figure out what to do in this memory. But Ryou doubted it had anything to do with disrupting the ceremony.

"Like what? Destroy Kingdom Hearts?" Ryou asked sarcastically. At least, he _meant_ for it to be that way. But the look on Yugi's face told him the boy thought he was serious.

"You think we could?" he asked hopefully. Ryou sighed, and shook his head. He severely doubted they'd do more than dent it. Even Sith seemed reluctant to try breaking it, though there was no doubt the woman truly wanted to. If only his ring worked, Ryou would've asked Bakura for some advice.

"I think we should leave it alone," Ryou said flatly, and turned back, "Come on. There must be something else here we have to see." Yugi wasn't sure what they had missed, but he didn't feel like questioning Ryou.

They took the elevator and went back to the common room. It was still empty when Ryou walked in, but when he turned to the window, he saw something. It was just a flash of blue, dark blue, but he knew he saw something. Eyes widened, he ran to the window, and he looked out. But whatever it was wasn't there any longer. Ryou looked down. For a second, it felt almost like Sith had been there. But that couldn't have been! Sith had never been here before.

"What's wrong?" Yugi asked, walking over to join his companion. Ryou looked out a second longer, hoping whatever he saw would come back. It didn't.

"I thought I saw something," Ryou replied, "But it's gone." Yugi squinted his eyes, wondering if he'd see anything unusual out there. He saw only the city and that glittering heart in the sky.

"What was it?" Yugi asked conversationally, looking down at the city now. It was so futuristic, made of chrome like the castle walls were. It was hard to believe they were actually in the past.

"I'm not sure. It was just a flash," Ryou told him, leaning against the wall, "Might've been a bird." But he knew he was speaking bullshit. It was something important. Did they miss what they were supposed to see?

They hadn't. Ryou was about to say they should leave, when there was a crash on one of the upper floors. They heard glass shattering, and screams from the basement told them everyone else heard the crash, too. It had been powerful enough to shake the entire castle. Ryou and Yugi looked at each other. Then, they rushed up the stairs, onto the floor above.

There were three more crashes, and an explosion before Ryou could reach the seventh floor. The elevator erupted into fire when they reached it, forcing them to use the stairs to get to the top. In fact, the explosion caused most of the upper floors to be set aflame by the time Ryou passed. The two moved quickly, weaving past crumbling arches and stepping lightly over shattered glass. On the sixth floor, something crashed into the wall with such force that it burst into the hallway. Ryou screeched to a stop. Whatever it was had been wrapped in a grey cloak, and slammed right into – and subsequently out of – the adjacent wall.

Ryou had a feeling he knew what he saw. He stormed up the final staircase, coming into a spacious room that could have passed as an executive office. It _could_ have, if it wasn't currently being demolished by fire, and two raging, sword-wielding… Espers! No… not Espers. _An_ Esper and a _Mystic_. And not just any Esper or Mystic. Those two particular combatants were…

"Sith!" Ryou cried, as Yugi looked at the Mystic and screamed, "_Rath!_" Unfortunately, neither of them heard the two boys as they continued fighting each other. Ryou couldn't believe it. _This_ certainly shouldn't have been happening. Yet there they were, trying to kill each other and take down the Castle that Never Was in the same shot.

The only thing that could've made it worse was if Organization XIII came up into the office. And they did. Before Ryou could even begin to sort out the mess, Xemnas burst through the doors, with Xigbar, Xaldin, Vexen, Lexaeus, and Zexion right behind. Axel and Saix ran up last. All eight Nobodies stopped at the sight of the raging inferno beyond. And when a comet came hurtling toward them, eight Nobodies scattered. The furniture, however, was not nearly as lucky.

"_Shit!_" Axel screamed, as Saix grabbed his sword and deflected a small stone that nearly hit him. Above, Ryou heard Sith yell, and saw her lunge toward Rath, sword pointing like a thin arrow of death. She was fast, but Rath was faster still, and seemed to vanish from sight just as Sith struck out.

"What is _Sith_ doing here!" Yugi asked, his voice nearly drowned out as Sith tried to deflect a comet that had been thrown at her. She was unsuccessful; instead, the impact threw her right into the office, slamming into the desk. And right at Saix's feet. She looked up at him. He stared, wide-eyed – he didn't recognize her, but she wasn't surprised. Technically, he hadn't met her yet.

Sith stood and turned quickly. She hadn't understood why Rath brought her here for their battle. Now she knew. Rath wanted to destroy any hope she had of a future. Rath wanted Saix to see her die, and have no attachment to it. Rath wanted to give Sith her wish – to die with Saix. But it was twisted, because Saix didn't know who she was. Sith had to make sure Saix _didn't_ see her. It'd hurt less if he didn't see enough of her face to wonder who she was or why she was there.

But she was only so fast. Right as she was about to jump, Saix stopped her. Quietly, he asked, "Have I… seen you before?" She froze, not knowing what to do. This was bad. _Very_, very bad. Maybe if she ignored him, he wouldn't ask. But when she took another step toward the shattered windows, he said, "Turn around."

"We have never met before," she told him, hoping her answer was enough. As usual, it wasn't. Damn him and his stubbornness.

"Turn around," he said, much more seriously. Ryou bit his lip, and caught Sith glancing at him. There was something in her eyes that he hadn't seen before. Fear? No, she had been afraid before. This was different. He couldn't place it, but it was a powerful emotion.

"Woman, _turn around!_" Saix practically yelled. Sith shivered, closed her eyes. Then, she turned. And she yelped when Saix grabbed her, and she looked right at him. They stared at each other, Sith wondering if somehow, he still recognized her. He was trembling, probably as shaken as she was. By what? He shouldn't have any clue as to who she was. Not in this time, anyway.

"Ryou, what do we do?" Yugi whispered urgently, as everyone seemed to just stop and stare, waiting for Saix to do _something_ other than look at the woman he was holding captive, "This shouldn't be happening!"

"Which is why Rath brought the battle here," Ryou snarled furiously, looking at Yugi, "How far is she willing to go for Sith's pain?"

"I'll stop at nothing," came a voice, and everyone – Saix and Sith included – turned and looked up. In the sky, silhouetted by the light of Kingdom Hearts, was Rath. The damn bitch had been waiting, watching. And now she was smiling wickedly, "Besides, what is more romantic than this?"

"Go to hell!" Yugi yelled. Rath just laughed. And Sith… shivered again. She'd have gone after her cousin, but Saix hadn't let go of her yet.

"I have to kill her. I have to kill her before she destroys us all," Sith said quietly, though it was almost like she was talking to herself. Then, forcefully, she said to Saix, "Let go of me."

"Who _are_ you?" he demanded again, "What is your name? Where did you come from?" He understood his questions were frightening her, and he let go only a little bit. Just enough for her to back away a step. His eyes were so… pleading. But why did he even want to know?

"Now is not the time," she said weakly. But this was Saix. 'No' wasn't in his vocabulary. He brought her closer, right as the desk beside her erupted into roaring fire. Whether it was to save her or just coincidence, Ryou couldn't say. But he kept her from burning alive.

"Yes, it is," he whispered in her ear, her eyes widening in terror, "Please, just tell me your name! Your name!" Ryou could see Sith shaking. This must've been a nightmare for her. All of her hopes were being shattered, all because of Rath. All because of her cousin's insatiable appetite for revenge.

Sith was about to answer, when they heard a high-pitched whistling. There was a gleam in the sky, and then… a large meteor was aimed right toward them. Sith stared, unable to do anything. Her mind wanted to run out of the way, but her body wouldn't respond. Why? What was paralyzing her so fiercely? She could already hear her heart beating, already felt the blast of heat that would kill her and Saix. She already saw them both dying on the ground, already saw a future she wanted to avoid at all costs.

Saix wouldn't let that future happen. He let go of Sith and took Lunatic in his hands. Then, he pushed her behind him, held up his sword. The meteor slammed right into the blade, the clang of steel ringing out all over the city. The heat was intense – yet the meteor came no closer to them! Above them, Ryou heard Rath snarling, felt her throwing more magic into the spell. She wanted to kill Saix, to kill Sith.

"Damn it, you pathetic demon! Just _DIE!_" Rath screamed, when her meteor moved no further. Saix was beginning to falter, but it would take too much to bring him down. He wasn't even berserk yet. But why was this? What was going on?

"You're not going to kill her," Saix snarled, pushing the meteor back, "Not today. Not ever." He struggled against Rath's intense power. He felt his own strength slipping away. But he looked back, he saw Sith. He pushed the meteor away further.

"You're wrong!" Rath cried, dumping as much power as she could, "I will win! I _will!_" Why! Why was he protecting her! He didn't even know her! Yet… there he was, keeping the meteor from scorching Sith to cinders. Sith, who wouldn't even answer his questions. Sith, who… who… damn it all, Rath wanted to kill them both more than ever. How _dare_ they defy her so grandly. _How dare they!_

"You _won't!_" Saix yelled back, and his hair began to spike, his eyes becoming pupiless, "_I won't let you!_" His berserk side came just in time. With one final roar, Saix pushed his blade forward and threw the meteor back the way it had come. Rath screamed, but it was cut off as the giant stone slammed into her, carving a lovely dent in the floating, crystalline heart behind her.

Everyone stood there, watching as Rath slowly fell from the sky, watching as hundreds of tiny crystal hearts fell with her. Everything fell silent – the wind stopped howling, and the fires burned themselves out. And she continued to fall, until she landed on the ground far, far below. For ten long minutes, no one could move. In one blow, Saix had stopped her. As he lowered his sword, he realized he was breathing heavily, almost gasping for oxygen. Trying to calm himself, he turned and looked at Sith again.

Ryou had never seen her so pale before. Sith stood there, shivering, like a kitten that had been left in a storm. Her eyes were watery, her wing was limp. Sighing, Saix walked over to her, and he smiled. It looked genuine – he hadn't been a Nobody long enough to let go of his residual emotions.

"Are you all right?" he asked her. She simply stared up at him, eyes wide with wonder. How had he done it? _Why_ had he done it?

"You… you killed her," she whispered, "I've been trying to do so for three thousand years. How did you… how did you do it!" Saix looked at her knowingly. His smile never vanished.

"Her pissing me off definitely helped," he replied, and tapped her chin gently, "Mostly, it was a feeling of _not wanting_ you to _die_." Sith's stare only became more profound. Her ear twitched, and her head was tilted a bit. Saix just grinned. He thought she was confused about that feeling. He was disappointed.

"How did you know?" she asked him, "How did you know who I am?" Now it was Saix's turn to look bewildered. His eyes narrowed, looking down at the smaller woman quizzically. She was serious.

"I… I don't," he said quietly. Then, he stopped, thinking about that more carefully. That wasn't entirely true. Even if he didn't _know_ her, there was a feeling of familiarity. A feeling that he _should_ know her. But it felt like a vague memory, a distant dream. Like something that had happened, yet hadn't happened at the same time.

"You do, don't you?" Ryou asked, and Saix turned sharply, glaring. Then, he relaxed. Ryou didn't feel like a threat to him. Advancing slowly, Ryou said, "You know who she is, don't you?"

"I…" Saix looked down. What was the truth anymore? Taking a breath, he said, "I don't know, though I swear I've seen her somewhere. _Somewhere_."

"You just don't know where," Yugi concluded. Saix nodded.

Turning to Sith, he said, "You were right. It wasn't a good time to ask you questions. But we're no longer in danger. So, please answer me. Who are you?" Sith hummed. For a second, she seemed willing to answer. Then, of course, Ryou saw that familiar sly look in her eyes. She wasn't about to let the man off easy, whether he knew her or not.

"Don't you think you should introduce yourself _first?_" she asked, as Xemnas came up behind Saix. Saix ignored him, giving Sith a grin that was far too familiar for him to _not_ know her.

"Where are my manners? My name is Saix, recently turned Number Seven of Organization VIII," he said sarcastically, bowing to her. Looking up, still grinning, he asked, "Now, who are _you?_" He didn't know her? Bullshit. Even if he hadn't met her, he knew _exactly_ who she was, to be joking around like that.

"My name is Sith Winchester," she replied gently, and Saix straightened up, "I am an Esper from the kingdom Aeroglyph, in Nesce." Saix blinked for a minute, and Xemnas just chuckled. It was then that Saix turned and realized his boss was right behind him. He blanched. How long had Xemnas been there?

"A creature of light?" Xemnas inquired, and was surprised when Sith shook her head.

"Hardly. My father's royal line is descended from demons, and my mother was a noble from Hellensfar," Sith told him, "If anything, I'm aligned with darkness. I just play for the side of light." Xemnas snorted. He had never heard of such ridiculousness before. Saix, however, kept grinning. He hadn't heard of such a thing, either; it actually intrigued him.

"Well, my little _Esper_," Saix said, and Xemnas stared at him, the older Nobody finding himself pushed out of the conversation, "What were you doing, fighting _here?_"

"That's a good question," Sith replied seriously, and her smile faded immediately, "One I forgot to ask before you slaughtered Rath. I suppose we'll never know." Her grim tone made Saix's grin disappear as well. For a second, they stared at each other. Then, they walked toward the shattered windows and both looked down.

There should've been a body. Everyone had seen the comet knock Rath clear out of the sky. Everyone watched her fall hundreds of feet – a fall that should have killed her. But as Saix and Sith looked out over the edge of the castle, down toward the ground, they saw nothing. Nothing but a very large crater, and the remnants of several shattered hearts. There was no body, no blood. Both of them backed away, terrified. Then, they both slumped to the floor, exhausted.

They hadn't won. Saix hadn't killed Rath. He _hit_ her, this much they knew, but he hadn't come close. Somehow, the bitch managed to escape death yet again. And it was becoming too much for Sith. Saix recovered easily enough. But Sith was disheartened. They had come so close, she had been so sure Saix had done it! How had Rath avoided being splattered on the ground? What magic had been used?

When they returned to the 'Grey Area,' the common room of the castle, Ryou brought over some food that Xaldin had made. He sat down on the couch next to Sith, turned to her, and said, "We'll get her."

"I do _not_ understand how she escapes death so many times in one life," Sith growled unhappily, looking at the floor, her hands resting in her lap, "Time and again, I and others have sent blows strong enough to shatter entire planes, yet she still lives. Do the gods taunt me?"

"There has to be a reason she doesn't die," Yugi stated, and Sith turned, staring at him. His lips were pursed, looking from her, to Saix. Somehow, the answer to winning lay in both of them. And _only_ if they worked together. In the future, that would be easy to achieve. But how much did this timeline's Saix know?

"It'd make sense if she was either dead or a Heartless," Xigbar said unhelpfully, despite the ten warnings he received from Saix to _not get involved_ in the conversation. Saix, unfortunately, gave up trying and just let the man put his two cents in.

"Well, she isn't, so stop suggesting it and help us out," Saix mumbled. Sith looked up at him, and he sighed. He was getting annoyed. Nothing made sense to him, including the unknown yet familiar woman sitting across from him. Yet something in him was telling him he _had_ to help her. It told him his shattered heart depended on it.

Xigbar didn't take his comrade's annoyance well at all. With a shrug, the older Nobody mock pouted and said, "Fine. _Don't_ take my help. I'll just sit here and cry while you get your ass handed to you." Saix growled furiously. He wasn't in the mood to joke. Truth to tell, neither were Ryou and Yugi.

"Xigbar," Saix snarled, and then yelled, "_Shut up!_" But when he saw Sith back away, eyes wide, he forced himself to settle down. He didn't want to scare her before he even sorted out what she did tell him before. Taking deep breaths, he gradually let his anger fade. And gently, he said, "Sith, what will you do now?"

"I don't know," she admitted, looking down with worry, "I don't even know where to go to leave this world. I don't know where she's gone, what time zone she's in… anything! I don't know anything…" Her eyes watered with the thought. She was so used to knowing her enemies' moves, to intercepting and disrupting them. Blindness terrified her now, especially since it nearly destroyed the future she wanted.

She felt a hand on top of hers, and she looked up. It was Saix. He grinned slyly at her, almost knowingly. Gently, he said, "Let us help you. We'll kill her."

"She nearly broke Kingdom Hearts, too," Xigbar reminded them, and Saix just laughed when Xaldin smacked the man with one of his spears. Xigbar spoke no more; he simply collapsed on the ground. Sith sighed, shaking her head. She trusted most of the Organization. But she couldn't accept the offer.

"I'd love nothing more than to have you by my side," she said to Saix, and his grin faded, knowing that tone, "But I have to decline. Too much has already been put at stake. I will risk _no more_." Saix looked at her, his eyes narrowed. She mentioned time zones, time travel, shit he didn't care about. To him, the future never existed. Why was she so worried?

"You said you wanted a life with me," Saix said, and that shocked even himself – that wasn't what he was going to say! – "What if this is your chance?" Sith's eyes widened again. She hadn't considered that. But again, she shook her head. No, not like this, she decided. If she accepted Saix _now_, his love would be influenced by the future that never happened. The future she… never even told him about!

"…when did I say this to you?" she asked quietly, not missing that fact. Saix blinked, and blinked for a long time. Technically, she hadn't. Not to the Saix in the past. But she had said it enough to the Saix she _knew_. The one that was fighting to break Rath's siege on his soul. The one that saved her life from the wrath of a meteor.

"It all happened so quickly, dear. I don't quite remember," he replied, and gave a grin she would never forget, "I think it was after I kissed you." Sith went crimson, and Ryou finally understood her question. She wasn't speaking to the Saix in this time. Somehow, somewhere, the Saix she knew had taken hold of his past's body, and was trying to come through to her. He was succeeding.

"After… you…" Sith repeated, and Saix's grin simply grew. When it finally hit her, why Rath had grown so furious, she said, "You aren't supposed to be here!" As though that would've possibly stopped Saix in any way.

"Neither are you, and yet… here we are," he reminded her gently. She could only stare at him. He was exactly the same, hadn't aged a day since his joining. But the tiny differences came through. He looked so much gentler than he had before. His tone wasn't as harsh. Was it really because of _her?_

"Saix… how?" she asked him, whispering so only he could hear. Saix looked around, and saw that the other Nobodies were watching him, all of them looking bewildered, unable to understand exactly _what_ the Luna Diviner was talking about with this strange Esper.

Not wanting to risk Sith being killed, Saix brought her into the hallway. There, she asked him again, and this time, he answered. He said, "I don't want to lose. I don't want to lose Artemis, or Victor, or you. I…" He shivered, knowing how bad this sounded even in his own ears, "Sith, I had to see you and know you were all right."

"But… but Rath… I have to kill her!" Sith exclaimed in exasperation. She turned to run, but Saix was far too quick. He took her arms, held her back. She struggled, and said, "Saix! I have to!" He spun her so she faced him. And she was pissed. If he weren't so grave, he'd have laughed.

"I won't let you get yourself killed," he said firmly, and Sith pulled on her arm, trying to break free. But Saix was serious. Well, so was she. Her brows creased in agitation.

"So you rather I let her kill _everyone_?" she spat, and growled, "Saix, I've already let that happen once because I was too gentle. Let me finish the job." Saix wanted to argue with her and tell her she was being foolish. But he didn't want to lose her. He barely lived against Rath. He knew if the mad Mystic caught Sith, she would suffer a thousand more wounds than he did.

Knowing he wouldn't win, instead he pulled Sith into a hug. She was too stunned to do much more than close her eyes. She thought she felt tears in her hair, not for the first time. And she felt horrible, too. Saix came so far just to see her again, and she had to break the few fragments of his heart in order to deal with her fate. For a second, she let him hold her, and was happy to feel the warmth he wanted to give. Then, she had to push him away. And when she did, she looked up at him.

"Saix, I'm sorry, dear," she said gently, "I have to do this. I have to go and stop her before she tampers with another memory. One wrong push, and I…" Saix put a finger to her lips. He didn't want her to finish that sentence. He already knew what would happen if the wrong line was crossed.

"I'll wait for you," he said to her, "I'll wait until the walls around me crumble and crush me. Just… please come back." She promised she would try. Saix smiled, kissed her gently. Then, he simply… collapsed.

When Saix came around, he saw Ryou, Sith, and Yugi around him, with several Nobody-like blurs behind him. It took him seconds to realize his vision was swimming. But it took him less time to realize he had no memory of the past hour – minus however long he'd been sleeping, of course. He looked up, completely bewildered.

"Where… where am I?" he asked no one in particular. He looked around, and saw Xemnas was close, too. Relieved, he asked, "Sir, has something happened to me? Why am I here?" Xemnas glanced at Sith, knowing exactly what had happened. He was amused by it all. She certainly wasn't.

"How much do you remember about the aftermath of Rath's worthless attempt on Kingdom Hearts?" Xemnas asked him calmly. Sith was ready to hit him. They would be lucky if Saix could interpret any of that, let alone answer it.

Amazingly, he could. Blinking emptily, he said, "I remember the meteor hurtling toward the two of us…" He glanced at Sith, trying to piece it all, "…and then… waking up here." Sith shivered, waiting for Xemnas to tell him what happened. He didn't. He just smiled, turned to Sith.

"I suppose you should thank this woman," he told Saix, much to Sith's shock, "You deflected the meteor and you took a nasty hit. If not for her, you'd be dead." The wild grin on his face told Sith he was enjoying this too much. Now, she was beginning to look panicked. What was this madman up to?

"What!" she and Saix both exclaimed, looking at each other. Then, Sith wheeled onto Xemnas and whispered, "What in hell are you doing!"

"Remember this, Sith," he whispered back, and Sith had the feeling that this Xemnas was _not_ the Xemnas who belonged in this time, either. But why was he doing this? He was going to lose his second-in-command. But he was already leaving the room before Sith could question him. She and Saix watched his retreating back, and looked away only when Xigbar cleared his throat. They turned.

"Well, not much for us to do, so we'll leave you both be for a minute," he said, half-dragging Xaldin out, "Saix, be good and thank her, or I'll shoot you." Saix simply blinked as the other Nobodies began filing out, as well. Leaving him with, not only Sith, but Ryou and Yugi as well. He frowned.

He had to say something at some point. Trying to bring forth his best, dashing smile, he turned to Sith and asked, "Did you really save my life?" Sith looked down, and shook her head. No, she did not want to influence this Saix with a lie.

"_You_ saved _me_," she corrected, "As for your life, the others carried you here. I…" Now she realized why Xemnas lied. She couldn't explain what actually happened. But she hadn't actually done much for him at all. "I simply used a healing spell."

"That's all?" he asked, his smile becoming a knowing grin. Sith grumbled. Even when he didn't know her, he knew enough to be an ass about it.

"Hey, be thankful she did anything at all," Yugi blurted, and found Sith glaring at him, "I… mean… well, that meteor nearly killed you both." He saw Sith's fists clenching, and knew he wasn't helping his case in any way. In fact, he was probably making it worse. Saix's grin didn't fade.

"Well, since _I_ saved _her_ first, I guess I _don't_ have to thank her," he said slyly, mockingly. He dared a glance toward Sith. She was annoyed as hell now. He had no idea why, but that made him want to laugh.

"You're welcome," she said, her words calm despite her obvious discomfort. When Saix's grin softened, she relaxed. Gently, she added, "I'll let you rest, though. You took a bad hit."

"You don't have to leave," he reminded her, his grin fading, "I was hoping you'd answer some more questions." Sith tensed again. She no longer knew what was safe. And she didn't want to risk pushing the wrong buttons. Fate was a tricky thing to play with. She'd probably done enough damage to render hers forfeit. She shook her head.

"I'm sorry. I really have to go," she replied, and stood up, "Saix… try to forget what happened."

"Why?" he asked her, looking up. She froze for a minute. His eyes were so golden in the moonlight. It disarmed her; he looked so upset. Such an emotion couldn't have been pretended… could it?

"Because… because I'm asking you to," she told him, holding back a shiver, "Please, just forget what happened tonight. It will do you good." Saix said nothing. He just kept looking at her, trying to understand why she'd make such a request. To him, there was no reason.

Turning to Ryou, she said, "All right. We'd better go before anything else happens." Ryou nodded, and the three of them walked toward the window. Yugi opened it up, and looked down. There was a portal, where Rath had previously fallen. He jumped down before Ryou even saw it. And when Ryou jumped down, Sith turned back just once, and looked at Saix. He was staring right back. For a minute, it felt almost as if time had stopped, just to let her say goodbye. But the words wouldn't come out. She turned to the open window, and then, she jumped through. She was gone.

Saix simply lay on the couch, watching the open window. He didn't understand it, any of it. Why couldn't he remember anything that happened after the meteor? He tried, but it all seemed so distant to him. Maybe Sith was right, and he should just forget the incident. He was a Nobody, after all. He had no heart to hold the memory. He could forget it, if only because she'd asked him to.

The only problem was that something inside him told him he'd better _not_ forget the woman who had just left his room. That something told him that if he did, he truly was the biggest idiot he'd ever meet.

-(End Chapter)

After changing Sith and Mello's memories about each other, Ryou and Yugi find themselves in a memory not from Sith's mind – this time, they find themselves in the middle of Saix's initiation into Organization XIII. Unable to understand the connection, Ryou and Yugi follow Xigbar to the Round Room to listen for clues. But when a fight outside nearly demolishes the castle, it becomes clear once Rath and Sith are in view. But before Rath can kill Sith off, Saix steps in and protects her from a meteor. When it's over, Sith finds she's speaking, not to the past Saix, but to the man she misses from her own time. And when he leaves, she finds herself unable to figure out what to do next. How has fate been severed, with Saix acting out of his timeline? Where has Rath gone, and what memory is she tampering with now? Find out next chapter, so click that Review button!


	24. Into Nesce's Past

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, Kingdom Hearts, Death Note, or Castlevania. Takahashi, Ohba, and Konami are dueling to the death to discover who should own them all. Square-Enix is just waiting for them all to kill themselves.

It took a long, long while before the door into the next memory came into vision, before the light even registered to the three as they fell through. Ryou knew they were going back now, back into the past, so far back that they might not know where they'd end up. As they traveled, the tunnel grew nearly black – that meant they were reaching the end of Sith's memories. And the shards that they passed – glassy ones that were clearer than any window Ryou saw through – they showed the interiors of a castle very unlike the one they had seen in Nesce, in the year 2008.

When they finally tumbled through the light, all three of them landed very, very hard in a bedroom. It was warm. When Ryou stood up, helping Sith to her feet, he saw there was a hearth in the room, with a fire roaring in it. The room itself was large; fully furnished with two bookcases, one in each northern corner of the room, a small table and chair on the right side, a dresser, a small vanity, and a bed behind them. Ryou just stared. Furniture alone couldn't say who lived in the room, but it was very clear the owner was female. The walls were a pale pink, the curtains crimson.

On the right side of the room, beyond the table, was a single large window that overlooked the gardens. Sith walked over, and looked out. Her eyes widened, but she otherwise said nothing. Ryou saw the reaction, though. She knew where they were. She knew it almost instantly.

"Sith?" he called, walking over to join her. Sith didn't look at him. Her eyes were fixed on the gardens below, glistening in the falling snow.

"The gardens," she said quietly, in awe, "The gardens are alive…"

"The gardens?" Yugi repeated, just as curious as Ryou was, "What gardens? Where are we, Sith?" This time, she did turn around. And she was smiling. It was a warm smile, one they had never seen on her before. Her cheeks practically lit up.

"The gardens in Aeroglyph Castle haven't been in bloom since I was six-hundred years old," Sith told them gently, eyes watering, "I don't remember them being this beautiful…" Chuckling, she added, "We've come back to Aeroglyph before Rath corrupted it!"

"So we beat her!" Yugi chirped happily. But that's where Sith's merriment ended. Rath. She had nearly forgotten the woman was going to destroy her through her own memories. And if it were going to come to fruition, doing so when she was young was the easiest route. She frowned.

"We haven't won yet," Sith finally said, and her voice was so bitter that it seemed to steal the cold from the fire, "We're winning, but we haven't won." Ryou felt a shiver run through him. Rath couldn't have been there yet, but it was only a matter of time until she caught up.

So be it. They'd just have to keep being a step ahead. Turning toward the center of the room, Ryou said, "So, let's see what we can do. Sith, any guess as to _when_ we are?" Sith glanced for only a second at the room she stood in. She needed no longer; she had lived in this room for almost one thousand years, she'd have known it even if she was blind.

"The range could be anywhere between my being forty, and my being almost seven-hundred and fifty," she replied easily. Ryou's mouth dropped. _That_ was her answer! That was a seven-hundred year gap! She had to be more specific. But when Ryou said this, she replied with, "Ryou, it takes Espers centuries to age. I would have been a teenager _at the most_, in equivalence to human aging even in my first thousandth year."

"Maybe we can just go and see," Yugi suggested. Ryou and Sith turned to him. That was an idea, but Sith in particular would have to be extremely careful. She couldn't afford to have her past self see her, or there'd be irreparable damage done. And this time, Aeon might not be there to help her out of it.

"What do you think?" Ryou asked, looking over at Sith. Her lips thinned. As high as the risk was, seeing someone here might tell her when in her memories they'd been dumped. After what felt like minutes, she nodded her assent.

"I can keep hidden in the shadows," she told them both, "We have human servants in the lower halls, so you both will… almost blend in." The last part was said with hesitancy. Ryou and Yugi exchanged odd glances. Just what was she saying?

"Almost?" Yugi pressed. Sith gave him a sly grin.

"Even the servants wear a certain level of regalia in their clothing," she explained simply, and gave them both assessing looks, "School suits and sweaters don't count." Both men blushed heavily. That was a blunt – and rude – way of putting it. But they understood the point. Unless Sith had something, however, there wasn't much to do.

Luckily, being a prince, she did. She smiled and opened the closet up. Ryou saw garments and coats made of the finest material he'd ever seen! Sith had always been a regal dresser, but not even her own clothing in the future compared to this. Then again, in the future, she no longer lived in a castle. She lived with Ryou, and finding something to suit a royal Esper Prince was nearly impossible.

With Sith's guidance, Yugi and Ryou were soon sporting the finest clothing they were ever likely to wear in their lives. Yugi had chosen a navy blue coat with a black vest and black traveling pants; Sith tied a yellow sash from his left shoulder to his right hip, telling him that he looked decent enough to be a stable boy. That made Yugi wonder how much a stable boy was paid, and what 'underpaid' would be in Esper currency. As for Ryou, Sith handed him a red traveling coat, with another black vest and white riding pants. She also handed him a pair of riding boots. And when he was finished, Sith told him his job was to be a… well, 'rider.'

"Riders are what we call the royal huntsmen," she explained, leading them out of her room and into the empty hall beyond, "They control the garm and simurgh numbers around the capital." The rest, Ryou could honestly say was a blur. They had to move quickly; the servants were already bustling about before they reached the stairs.

"We look more like nobles that stumbled into the wrong house," Ryou pointed out gruffly. Sith stopped abruptly, and Ryou managed to slam right into her elbow, which knocked him right down. He stared up, and found her looking down at him critically.

"For all intense and purpose, you _are_ nobles," she told him firmly, "For now, you are the second cousin to Lady Rothbury of Termania, coming here on official business to see me, Prince Sith. Yugi here is your personal servant. And if anyone asks anything more, either think for yourself or ignore the question." That sounded easy enough, but there was one problem Sith was overlooking. Yugi was the one brave enough to bring it up.

"What if you're only a child?" he asked her. Sith blinked for a long moment. That was a good worry to have. At the most, she would look around fifteen years of age. A young nobleman coming to see her would raise too many questions.

"…just say you're here to see Sceppiro," she replied slyly. Then, turning again, she continued down the hall. Ryou just stared. And then, he laughed. Somehow, Sith just threw her older brother under a bus. And, as usual, it didn't appear to deter her in any way at all.

The tour was quiet until they reached the front hall. After they descended the last step, Ryou heard a voice from above. At first, it was quiet – he couldn't tell who was talking, how old they were, and if they were male or female. Then, the voice came closer. Ryou recognized it, too. And so, unfortunately, did Sith. She had hoped it'd have been Sceppiro; the voice was similar, but lighter, distinctively _female_. And unless Sceppiro was practicing for opera, it wasn't him. No, that voice belonged to Sith herself.

"Yes, I understand the danger, Faleen. That's why I'm going," the voice said, and the three in the front hall stared in wide-eyed terror, "My father can't afford to send Sceppiro. Not when those bastards down in Conquille are pushing to attack Lightning Valley." Wildly, Ryou looked to Sith. That voice was awfully close.

"_Shit!_" she hissed, and crouched low, "Ryou, you're on your own." Then, she leapt up. Ryou watched as she flew directly onto the chandelier, hiding behind the thick chain. He cursed. Just then, another Sith was already coming down. This one was younger, looking even younger than Yugi did. But the physicality was the same. Her face barely looked different.

When she saw her guests, she stopped. Gently, she said, "I did not realize we had guests waiting. Faleen, why was I not informed?" She turned to her companion. Ryou looked up, and his mouth dropped. Standing beside her was Falnika. But she was younger, as well. And much better-dressed than her future counterpart; she was sporting a red coat over armored leggings. There was a gun at her hip. Luckily, it wasn't aimed.

"I had no idea, my prince," Faleen replied honestly. Sith stared a second longer, unable to place who it was she was looking at. He _appeared_ to be a noble, but something about him wasn't right. And it wasn't just because he was human, either.

"Nobleman, state your business in my father's castle," Sith said firmly, walking slowly down the stairs toward Ryou, "He is not taking counsel with any visitors today. Are you here to see me, or my brother?" It was odd that she hadn't mentioned Katt.

Remembering what Sith had said before, he answered, "Sceppiro, my prince. I come asking for a job." Above, watching him, Sith slapped her forehead. Noblemen never entered the castle for a _job_. Their business was purely political. Then again, she had told him he was a rider, not a baron or an earl.

"A… _job?_" Sith asked him skeptically, eying him carefully. He had a feeling this was an unusual request. And when she spoke, he found it was, "I am sorry, sir, but we do not offer _jobs_ at the castle for _nobles_." Put that way, Ryou found Sith sounded like a haughty asshole. Up above, Sith herself was laughing.

"What about for their servants?" Yugi piped in. Above, Sith stopped laughing and nearly choked. _That_ was just stupidity. The younger Sith stared at them both, looked up at Faleen, and stared at the two again. She did _not_ have time for this.

"Stop wasting my time, _sir_," she growled impatiently, eyes narrowing, "Now, unless you have _official_ business, I suggest you leave before I command the guards to escort you out." Ryou blanched. This was _not_ a good sign. He was supposed to be protecting Sith, not making a premature enemy of her. If only _his_ Sith could come down, she would've been able to fix this. At the very least, she'd have told her past self to stop being such a bitchy prince.

"But we have official business!" Yugi pleaded. Both Siths stared at him, the older one wondering what he could possibly do to make things worse. She wished she hadn't wondered – he did worse than she thought possible, "We're supposed to protect…"

Thankfully, Ryou stopped him and stomped on his foot before he blurted out their objective, "I'm sorry, my prince. We were told someone could help us here, but we don't want to waste your time. We'll leave." The past Sith looked at him critically, eyes still narrowed.

"That may be a smart idea, yes," she agreed, crossing her arms. Ryou turned toward the great front doors, sneaking Yugi a glare before he took the smaller boy's arms and began to walk toward the doors. Sith watched them leave, and when the doors closed, she turned to Faleen. "Who in hell _were_ they?"

"Deluded humans who inadvertently crossed the void?" Faleen suggested. With no other impressions to base her judgment, Sith shrugged. Then, she walked back up the stairs, with Faleen following her.

Up above, on the chandelier, Sith watched the entire event with complete and utter bewilderment. That had to be the worst display of acting she'd ever seen, and the fact that Ryou managed to save their cover was a miracle to her. The fact that her past self hadn't seen through it was just dumb luck; she must've been pretty preoccupied to not see through _that_ level of acting. Taking a deep breath, shaking her head, Sith leapt off the chandelier, landing silently on the floor. Standing up, she looked up the stairs and just saw her own back retreating around the corner. This would be tricky, if she wasn't careful.

Sith didn't like working alone. As much as she enjoyed the peace and quiet, she preferred having a partner to discuss plans with, as well as someone to talk to as she mulled over her next move. But Ryou and Yugi were gone, and now she had no choice. She had hoped they'd be better at getting through the castle and distracting her past self; she knew better than to hope for two boys to do what an Esper should be doing. Blaming only herself, she dashed up the stairs. But at the top, she took a sharp turn toward the left, whereas her past self went directly through the back hall. Her aim wasn't a bedroom; her personal target was her father's study. If the past memories were going as planned, then Rath was preparing the first assault on Aeroglyph around this time. Sith had to know where or when the woman would strike.

Sith's speed was better than she thought. She slunk down into the shadows of the banister to avoid being spotted, but it hadn't hindered her in any true way. There were no servants tending to the outer rooms of the second floor, so she only had to worry about anyone who might've been in the entrance hall. Aside from Ryou and Yugi, there had been no others. She made it to the door furthest on the left side of the upper tier before even five minutes had passed.

Making sure she wasn't followed, Sith took off her pendant for a moment, and looked at it. Many secrets were kept inside of it, things she hadn't told either Yami or Bakura. Now it was time to see if the centuries had worn away the magic, if she still had the power she did when she was younger. Not the fighting expertise she had picked up – that was irreplaceable and she would never forget it. But jewelry kept their magic for only so long. Her pendant gleamed in the faint glow of the nearby torch. She felt the familiar swirl inside.

"Öffnen," Sith whispered. There was a click within the pendant, and it hovered out of her hand. Slowly, the jewel cracked, and dissolved. In its place was a silver key, with the same jewel in the center at the top. Sith grinned. Her pendant was just as active as before. Taking the key, she unlocked the door and slipped inside.

The room was empty of occupants. Sith slid the door closed, and went to the desk in the center of the room. Maps were laid out, along with several viewing glasses, and scrying tools. Her father was looking into the matter. That put her past self at just over her first thousand years. Which was much older than she thought she'd be. The gardens were dead before she was seven hundred…

"Sith?" came a whisper, and Sith jumped, nearly knocking several of the maps away. She turned sharply, and saw no one was in front of her. But the sound came from the window. Which, she realized, was open. She ran to it, looked down. To her shock, she found Ryou climbing the ivy that was growing on the outer wall. Yugi was further below.

"Ryou!" she exclaimed, and then laughed hysterically. Shaking her head, she said, "I don't know whether to be surprised or impressed. I thought I'd scared you away for good." With little effort, she grabbed his arm and pulled him into the room. He gave her a grin, as she helped Yugi up next.

"I know you, Sith," he reminded her slyly, "It'll take more than a bad mood to get rid of me." Sith smiled, ruffled the younger man's hair. She felt sad for a moment, at the thought of leaving him behind when Rath was killed. Ryou was as close as a brother would be; she'd miss joking with him.

"So, what're we looking for?" Yugi asked her, noticing the maps and the paraphernalia on the walls. To him, this looked more like a general's quarters than any place Sith should've been. If only he knew she'd broken in. She turned back to the desk, as well.

"My father's already looking into the matter when Rath first appeared to try and wrest control of the kingdom from him," she explained, "I was around one-thousand and thirty seven when I learned she was going to attack."

"Which means?" Ryou urged. Sith's lips thinned a bit. The next part was said with relief.

"We have about three hundred years before she tries anything in your world," she replied. But what she left out was that, if Rath succeeded in destroying her memories here, it wouldn't matter if she assaulted Ryou's world or not. There'd be no one to stop her; no one except for Yami, Bakura, and the few priests and magicians Yami had.

"Do the maps tell you where she is?" Yugi asked innocently. Sith didn't know. She looked at them. They each represented a different regional area of the Esper world; some had large slashes through them, possibly indicating a threat or break in alliance. But that told her next to nothing. Nesce had four kingdoms – Aeroglyph just happened to be the biggest of them.

"From what I remember, she went to Conquille and bought an army of mercenaries before marching to Aeroglyph and launching her first move," Sith said quietly, leaning closer to the maps, "Before arriving, she slaughtered every small settlement who resisted her; those that didn't were captured and forced into her army." Ryou wondered how many had been allowed to live, and how many were able to escape. He had guessed the numbers were higher than Sith wanted, for that meant thousands of Espers had been forced to murder their own. Just to conquer and corrupt their own world.

"Are any of them still alive in our time?" Ryou asked her, and he noticed his voice was shaking. Sith looked up at him. She looked so… saddened. Tears actually started to form in her eyes. Visibly, she trembled for a second.

"Faleen," she replied quietly, "She went willingly once she was told Gilden was killed. And when she learned she had been lied to, she was so furious that she turned herself into Falnika the Wicked. She wanted me dead for failing to protect her." Swallowing hard, her hands fidgeting with emotion, she said, "Considering that I was sent to Egypt to protect _myself_, I can see why she blamed me."

"That wasn't your fault!" Ryou declared passionately. But the icy look in Sith cooled down his rage. For once, he was wrong. She knew what was happening to her own world when her father told her to run. Like a little girl, she listened to him instead of fighting for her kingdom.

Looking away, she bitterly said, "It is when you knowingly run while your brother and sister cover your arse." For a second, her hatred for both herself and Rath was palpable. When she looked up at Ryou again, she said, "Sceppiro wasn't chosen as successor to the throne. I was. He ruled to protect me, to make Rath think I was dead." It hadn't worked. Rath had seen through it. Sith's abilities in Egypt hadn't gone unsaid. She had easily put two and two together once the name 'Sith' appeared to her.

"And when it didn't, you ran to Domino," Ryou concluded. But Sith shook her head. He blinked, tilted his head. Then he remembered she had been in Egypt. He remembered what Bakura had said, and that everyone was terrified because Sith had disappeared – all because Rath had ruptured that memory before Sith could save it.

"It took a war, the death of my friends, and a misguided king to boot me out of Egypt before I traveled abroad," she told him, "For a while, Rath was sourly confused. She couldn't find me for nearly three thousand years."

"Kira changed that," Yugi added. Ryou hadn't remembered much, but he had. Sith smiled, and she nodded.

"When he tried writing my name down in the Death Note was when Rath found me," Sith explained, "Tools of death can't kill me. They can only mortally wound me. A millennia was shaved off of my lifespan – enough to send a shockwave of power so potent that every Esper felt it." It attracted Rath like a moth to fire. Ryou always wondered how Mello's world had been involved when Rath hadn't actually been there. Now he knew. Rath didn't need to be to feel Sith's life force diminishing.

"Katt did what she did so Rath didn't find you," Ryou whispered, "She knew." Sith nodded, eyes narrowing. Katt knew far too much, and had done far too much. But she was Sith's twin. She had felt the blow Kira had dealt far more than any other Esper – Sceppiro and Gilden included!

"She knew that if Mello followed me, Rath would find _him_, and ultimately, find me," Sith admitted. Then, Ryou's previous action showed, for she said, "If only it had worked. She apparently forgot to dispose of the girl whose identity I'd be taking." Ryou's skin paled. His own tampering worked, after all. He prayed it hadn't affected too much of his world. Considering neither he nor Yugi were dead, obviously it hadn't affected them.

Knowing that if they didn't want history to repeat itself, they'd have to move, Ryou said, "All right. We know when we are and where. Now we need to know what we have to do. Sith, do we protect you? Or do we go to this Conquille and stop Rath first?" Sith wasn't sure she had to answer, because the answer was self-evident. There were only three of them. Rath could easily have hundreds of men by her side already. Even with the older Sith, Rath would be nearly impossible to kill at best.

Instead, Sith looked down at her key again. She, Katt, and Sceppiro had told Ryou _some_ of the wards that protected the crown, but not all of them. The final one lay in Sith herself. _She_ was the only one who could get the treasury door open. And her key was why; without it, the door to Nesce's heart was closed, and the crown would just be a decoration. Rath hadn't known that, not until recently. Sith knew this. That was why Rath had tried to kill Gilden. Gilden knew about the key.

"Protecting the crown is far more important than my life," Sith finally said firmly, and Ryou noticed the key in her hand, "Protecting the _heart_ is more important. If we don't, Rath will destroy it, and Nesce will literally crumble."

"Heart?" Yugi asked her curiously, looking at the shimmering key as well, "Nesce has a _heart?_" Sith nodded absently, her mind preoccupied. Maybe that was the reason Xemnas entered the picture, too. What if it wasn't just about sealing up the darkness? He wasn't exactly scrambling to do that, for one thing. What if he knew Nesce had a heart?

"All worlds do," Sith told him, and looked down at him, "They live and beat just like a human heart. The only difference is that when a world's heart dies, the world just ceases to exist, along with all of the people in that world." Ryou shivered. No wonder the crown was so important. The crown controlled the Espers – in Rath's hands, she could easily take the key from Sith. But what about the three swords? Could Rath control Zealacht's thirst for her soul?

"So what do we do?" Ryou asked her again. Sith wished she knew. She couldn't open the door to the heart, not without serious repercussions. She couldn't take the crown. She couldn't save anyone. Why _was_ she sent here?

"We have no choice. We have to find Rath and kill her," Sith replied grimly, "I'm not sure it even matters which one anymore. We just need to stop her." If he didn't know how dire the situation could be, Ryou would've told Sith she was being rash. But he understood the situation too well. They were getting closer to the beginning. Time was growing more fragile. Soon, it wouldn't matter which Rath was which; they might even be one in the same. He nodded.

"Where's Conquille?" he asked her, bringing her to the maps. Sith looked down at one, scanned it. Conquille was south of Aeroglyph, right past the Ratterlin Trench that snaked through the lower Saeble ranges. But unless they wanted to hike through the snowy caps, the only route there was through the Lightning Valley – a place rightly named for the massive, constant storm of thunderbolts that dotted the land. Could they get there in time?

"We either hike or we go through the valley," she told them both, and by the tone of her voice, she didn't really want to do either. Ryou already knew why. Rath had assaulted the valley first, or would be soon. They'd be caught in the line of fire, quite literally.

"There's no other way?" Yugi asked. Sith shook her head. Conquille was the second largest kingdom in Nesce, and had a heated hatred for Aeroglyph. The _only_ way into the city itself was through the valley; the trench would merely take them to the sewers. And Sith had no need to see what lurked in there.

"If only I hadn't lost my pin," she mumbled. Yugi looked from the map, to her. He had no idea why she would be talking about a pin. He tilted his head.

"A pin?" he repeated. Sith nodded again.

"I had a pin imbued with my mother's magic," she replied, "It allowed me to morph into a _Pure_ Esper. As it stands, I'm half-Esper thanks to my father. But when I use the pin, I can essentially become a beast of terrible power, much like Atma is." Ryou shivered, remembering the one time Sith had actually used that power. He hadn't thought she could get any more powerful. He had been mistaken very gravely, and it cost Falnika a lot of blood.

"What happened to it?" Ryou asked her. She smiled, an almost mocking look that told him whatever it was _wasn't_ funny in any way.

"It snapped when Falnika mortally wounded me," Sith said simply, "Our jewels truly do take the hit for us before we die. My pin decided it was time to do the honors." Which meant she lost her mother's power forever. Ryou wondered if she'd even had to use it often. When he asked, she said, "No, but it was nice to have around. Being able to turn into a terrifying, demonic cat was sometimes much more convincing than aiming a sword at my opponent's throat."

"Think it would've scared Rath?" Yugi asked her. She shook her head, crossed her arms. She doubted anything she'd do would scare Rath.

"The only thing that'd come close is probably frozen solid," she mumbled, and Yugi understood she was talking about Saix. For a moment, she fell absolutely silent. Saix. He promised he'd be there for her, but he wasn't even alive in this era. He wouldn't be for three thousand years. Thinking on it, if she didn't fix this mess, those would be very lonely years. Going to the window, she said, "I miss him."

"We'll get them all back, Sith," Ryou assured her. Sith turned back to him. She wasn't sure they could.

"We've already altered Saix's memory, Ryou," she reminded him sadly, and he frowned, "If he does the stupid thing and tries to find me, they might kill him before we meet." Now Ryou understood why Sith had been so upset when Saix introduced himself. But how could that be so bad? Saix loved her; it didn't matter what part of his memory she was in.

"Sith, I promise you, Saix won't do that," Ryou said, and Sith stared, "He loves you. It doesn't matter that he's a Nobody. He threw himself in front of you just so Rath wouldn't win. He took possession of his own past just to speak to you. He _promised_ to see you again. Sith, he misses you, too." Sith closed her eyes. She already knew this. It didn't lessen the pain in any way.

But she'd have to shove the pain away for now. Maybe, if she returned and Saix was gone, she would grieve. But if she ever once had a shot at happiness, it wouldn't come from dwelling on what might happen. She had done enough of that in Ryou's world. She opened her eyes, tried to think. Their next move seemed easy. And she knew where Rath would be approximately. But what she didn't know was which Rath she'd be facing. That part, she decided, was the hardest. Suppose she killed the wrong one? Oblivion might be more peaceful, but what effects would that bring?

Those questions would have to be answered in due time. The more time she wasted, the more of her memories were in danger. She looked at her two companions. For all intense and purpose, they were the last of their world now. She just had to hope they were as ready for that as she was.

"We'll make for the valley," Sith told them, "With any luck, we'll find her – one of her – and be able to stop her before anything happens."

"What if we kill the one from this time?" Yugi asked. Sith chuckled a bit, had a knowing look in her eye. That look made the other two feel comforted. It meant Sith knew more than she'd let on, and that was never a bad thing. Unless, of course, you were her enemy.

"We kill the wrong one, then the one we're after will take her place," Sith replied, "We kill the right one, life will go on as predetermined by time. The only difference is that, we make one mistake, we simply kill Rath twice." Ryou wondered if Sith had thought of the consequences of a world without Rath. Indeed, Sith had. It'd simply mean her fate had been fulfilled prematurely. Though, and she understood this too well, it might also mean she never once would need to leave her world. She would know no one, not even Saix. She would likely marry an Esper noble.

Realizing how unhappy that would make her, she said, "Let's just hope we get the right one." Ryou laughed. Now he felt relieved.

Though she was small for an Esper, Sith was still strong enough to carry both Ryou and Yugi. And, as she heard footsteps in the hall outside of the room, she knew she'd have to do just that. In fact, as she went to the open window and hopped onto the sill, she knew it was probably the only way to escape and not create a temporal paradox. Ryou understood that, too. He grabbed Sith's arm as Yugi climbed onto her back. She looked back only once; the door was creaking open. And, quickly, she slipped out of the window. She just barely heard a gasp of shock – Gilden must've seen her tail slipping through, because it was his voice she heard. She simply prayed he didn't look out to investigate.

Her one wing unfolded and flapped, and she was glad it was strong enough to keep all three of them aloft. But it quickly got sore, and the higher she went, the more unbalanced she became. More than once, she had to rely on the wind from the ranges to carry her southbound, and they were cold updrafts. They numbed her limbs, and caused her to nearly lose her senses. More than once, she almost risked crashing into the fields below. But she couldn't fly any lower. She was still a Prince of Aeroglyph. She couldn't let herself be seen.

The sky was dark, the clouds blotting out the orange disk that was the setting sun by the time the valley came into view. From a distance, it looked like a dark, muddy chasm amidst the grassy fields that made up the Densch Plains. But, as Sith flew closer, all of them saw that the valley was abandoned. There should have been houses dotting the cliff faces, farms being tilled on the upper tiers nearest the ground level. The bottom of the valley should've had caravans, guards, and even robbers conducting their businesses. But there was nothing. The valley was completely empty. Not even the trickling creeks remained.

Sith slowed and landed on the valley floor, letting go of her two companions. She looked around, her ears tilted back. There weren't even ruins here. It was as if nothing had ever existed. And for once, even the lightning that gave the valley its name failed to crackle. The Lightning Valley was silent. It bothered Sith far more than Saix's premature induction into her life.

"Where is everyone?" Yugi asked her, his voice being the only thing that broke the heavy silence. Sith stepped forward, her boot cracking a dried twig in two. That was a good question. She had a feeling she knew who'd have the answer, too.

"My father's maps indicated that he was expecting an onslaught from Conquille," she explained calmly, looking up the cliff faces, toward the towering Saebil peaks beyond, "They'd have no choice but to come through here. Resistance from the farmers would be happening. There'd be fighting."

"But there's nothing here," Ryou finished grimly. Sith nodded. She bent down, and picked up a handful of earth. It was dry and dusty, and possibly hadn't seen water for years. That wasn't right. Rain often accompanied the storms that frequented the valley.

"We're already too late," she said quietly, letting the dirt fall, "She's been here. She's wiped out the valley." Who knew what else she'd erased, too. Sith didn't even want to think about that. Aeroglyph might be next, if Rath wasn't working on that already.

"There has to be some sign of her," Ryou suggested, trying to keep Sith from collapsing from shock, "Sith, I can't feel energy trails. Can you?"

"She wouldn't have left one. If she used a corridor of darkness, it'd have absorbed it," Sith told him, trying unsuccessfully to keep the fury out of her voice. Then, she couldn't help it. She kicked a rock and screamed, "_DAMN IT TO THE GODS!_" It was really bad for her to curse, and let Ryou hear it. He didn't know whether he should try comforting her or just let her go on.

He decided to let her go on. Sometimes, it was better to let Sith throw her hissy fit than to try doing damage control. And when Yugi went over to help her, Ryou stopped him, shook his head, and said, "Leave her be."

"But…"

"I've thrown my share of fits and Sith's left me be," Ryou said sternly, and looked over at the older woman, "I'm not doing it as a friend. As a guardian, it's my job to protect Sith. The best way to do it, right now, is to let her scream so she doesn't hurt herself later to try and cope with it." Yugi didn't like that answer. He wanted to help Sith. But then he realized Ryou had a point. Sith always kept her feelings bottled in so that she could think clearly and lead them to safety. What happened just broke that bottle. Those feelings had to go somewhere. And since Rath managed to take Saix away, as well, those feelings were even more ferocious than before.

"Should we go looking for any trails, then?" Yugi asked him, knowing that the only use they'd have right then was to do reconnaissance. Ryou smiled sadly. He wanted to. But he saw the valley. He saw the barren wasteland it was. They wouldn't find anything unless Rath wanted them to.

"We should probably see if Conquille is still standing," Ryou said truthfully, and knowing that Sith wouldn't mind him making the decisions for the minute, he continued, "Or we should look for a doorway into another memory, somewhere even older than this. But there's nothing for us here." Yugi nodded, not knowing what else he could add, but trusting his friend's judgment. If only Aeon were there, the time-keeper would know how to fix this. But they'd have to do this alone. They were Sith's only allies now.

Unfortunately, her enemies were just as numberless as her allies. And it was her enemy that spoke next, even as Ryou opened his mouth. "There is nothing for you anywhere," the voice said, "This is the end of the line for _all_ of you."

"_Rath!_" Sith and Ryou both yelled, both looking up. Indeed, Rath was there. She was still dawned in her tattered, grey cloak, though it looked far more torn up than before. But the damn bitch had the gall to smile at them. Even with the jagged scars and the wounds on her arms, she was still smiling.

"What have you done to my memories!" Sith demanded, drawing Zealacht, though she knew she could never hit her cousin from that angle. Rath's slender brow arched. Then, she laughed.

"Your _memories?_" she repeated, and cackled, "Oh, Sith, you should stop thinking the world revolves around you. I'm not changing your memories. I'm changing history itself."

"What have you done!" Ryou asked her, shortening Sith's question for her. Rath was caught off-guard by his lack of fear. Taking advantage of that moment, Ryou continued, "You're going to destroy Aeroglyph! You're going to destroy Nesce! Don't you understand what that could do to Oblivion!" Rath's smile turned wicked.

"You sound surprisingly like Aeon," she mused, tapping her chin, "But Aeroglyph will march on. I'm simply removing the Winchester line from the throne."

"_Why?_" Ryou pressed. He knew he couldn't stall forever, but he wasn't about to let Rath get a cheap shot at Sith. Rath wasn't appearing to notice his stall, either. She answered honestly.

"Because then my destiny will be completed," she replied, "And we will see the side of the coin of judgment that won. The side that should have always won." Ryou looked from her, to Sith. Rath was a Mystic, an evil abomination of the Esper line that had been twisted with the madness of Oblivion. But Sith was a half-breed, a mixture of Esper blood and demonic genetics. Rath fought for selfish gains. Sith only wanted some level of peace in her life.

"Your side would have led a twisted world," Ryou told her firmly, and she looked down at him, her smile fading, "You wouldn't have changed. You would have destroyed everything. Or turned it into a cesspool for evil." Rath's eyes narrowed. How dare that child make any sort of judgment on her! For a moment, she continued to glare at him. Then, she laughed. She laughed so hard, that the valley itself seemed to shake in terror of such a sound.

"And it would have been beautiful," she finally said, her laughter still ringing out across the valley. She waved her arm behind her, seemingly indicating the valley, "Espers are not meant to serve lesser races, but to _rule_ them. But to do that, our family needed stronger blood, blood that would allow us to use only the most destructive magic available. The blood of demons!" And, in essence, Sith's father. Sith stepped back, dropped her sword. Her father… who had ruled Nesce with such a gentle heart!

"You lie!" Sith finally yelled, shaking her head, "My father loved this world. He would never have placed us in such danger!"

"Then why is he a demon?" Rath countered, and the words were such a blow that Sith fell to her knees. Yes, her father was a demon. But he wasn't evil, could never be evil. He begged her to protect Nesce! He begged Sceppiro to aid her! Why… why would he possibly keep anything so vile from them?

As if to cut the wound further, Rath said, "You reject the evil and cruelty that I harness, but you have it within yourself, Sith. How many of your friends have you threatened? How many have you abandoned?" Sith shivered. Too many, on both accounts. Was she evil? Was she lying to herself? She no longer knew.

Sensing the gash in Sith's soul, Rath continued, "Wouldn't it be easier to let all of that restrictive emotion go? To let them fade away like your husband had?" Sith's eyes went wide. Saix was _gone!_ No… no! He had come to her just hours ago!

A blast that shook the entire world dragged Sith out of that thought. Rath went flying away, and before Sith could look up, she heard someone say, "You sound more like a Nobody than we do." She knew that voice! It was Xigbar! Quickly, she and Ryou turned around. And they came face to face with eight members of Organization XIII. Sith noticed, however, that Xaldin wasn't among them.

"Sith," Xemnas said, before she could even gasp in surprise. She said nothing, she simply stared up at him. He stepped forward, away from the others, and said, "To think of how far back in time we needed to go to find you."

"You… you came," Sith said quietly, and Xemnas stopped just before her. He looked down at her, nodded, and smiled. Shivering, Sith said, "I haven't forgotten what you've done for me."

"Stand up, Sith," Xemnas said to her, and when she rose, he continued, "We are in trouble. Rath's disruption of history is taking its toll on our time." Sith and Ryou exchanged worried glances. Neither wanted to know if Domino even stood or not. But both had a feeling they'd find out quickly enough.

Turning back to Xemnas, Sith asked, "How bad?" Xemnas's smile faded. That, as far as she knew of the Organization, never meant anything good. His words confirmed it.

"She's erased you from Yami and Bakura's memories," Xemnas said grimly, "Successfully, I might add. You no longer exist in that world. As for your ex-lover… Mello, was it?" He tapped his chin mockingly, and Ryou saw Sith's eyes harden. Mello… something happened to him! Sith grabbed the older man's cloak and dragged him closer to her, forcing him to look into her eyes.

"What happened to Mello!" she demanded furiously. Xemnas just grinned. He'd have thought she'd care more about what happened to Saix. Then, he shrugged. What did it matter? Slowly, but surely, Sith was being erased from time itself.

"He left this for you," Xemnas replied, and handed her something, "We've taken the liberty of watching his death. Demyx found it in his vest. To be honest, I'm amazed it survived the blaze he created." Sith snatched the object, a folded piece of paper. Then, she opened it, read every word. Ryou saw her shaking again, so much so that the paper nearly slipped from her fingers. When she finished, she shook her head, fell back onto her knees. Ryou bit his lip. Now his act was about to kick his ass again.

"What does it say?" Ryou asked her, as Yugi glanced at him in warning. Sith swallowed hard. The effort seemed to hurt her severely.

"That he loves me and wants me to move on if he doesn't come back," Sith told him, and handed him the letter, "That I gave him the best two years of his life, and he wouldn't trade them for anything. And that he was sorry." Ryou read the letter, and felt exactly what Mello felt when he wrote it. Every word was true. Every emotion ran through him. Mello had been sad, scared, angry… but most of all, he loved Sith. He loved her, and hated leaving her behind just to catch one man who meant absolutely nothing to him. Except that that man had been Kira, the very man Sith had been sent to eradicate.

To make matters worse, Sith shook her head and said, "Why didn't he leave this for me in the apartment? I was there when he died." Ryou's eyes widened. Now, he had a feeling one of those temporal paradoxes Aeon had warned Victor about was going to come true.

All of it was because he wanted to help Mello. For once in his life, he wanted to help Mello.

-(End Chapter)

With Rath shaking Sith's earlier memories, our three heroes scramble to find where she hides next. The answer, much to their horror, lay in Aeroglyph itself, in a past before it became the twisted remains of what had once been. When Rath begins launching a premature attack against the kingdom, Sith decides to cut her off before history unravels itself. But, Rath has already demolished the battlefield, shifting it to suit a barren wasteland. When Xemnas shows up, he informs the distraught warrior that several holes are opening up in the timeline. What will become of Domino City, of Aeroglyph, and of Mello? What consequences did Ryou and Rath bring when they altered Sith's memory? Find out next chapter, so click that Review button!


	25. Unraveling Threads

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, Death Note, or Kingdom Hearts. Takahashi and Ohba are trying _really_ hard not to let Square-Enix buy their deeds, but the big boys at the court says that the bids put in were legit. If only those boys were on my side.

"I was there when it happened." Ryou knew as soon as those words came out of Sith's mouth, he was in serious trouble. He had never even considered Sith would be in the apartment! The way Katt had told him, Sith was out when she heard of Mello's death. Was it possible Katt lied to him, or perhaps didn't recall that detail? He didn't know. But he did know that if Sith figured out the inconsistency, and realized that Mello wasn't rushing to kill Kira, someone would have hell to pay. And, if Sith was as demonic as Rath said, that hell would be literal. For several long moments, Ryou stood with the note in his hand, neither looking at or acknowledging it. He was too busy trying to figure out how furious Sith would be, and how long he had to escape her anger.

Finally, though, something had to be said. Xemnas, who seemed to know exactly what was going on, looked down at Sith and said, "Perhaps he was frenzied with emotions." Ryou silently cursed the older Nobody.

"That _is_ Mello," Sith whispered, her voice still shaking terribly. But still, she shook her head, "Yet it makes no sense. He… Mello and I argued so badly that night. We nearly broke because of it. Why… why would he write this? Normally, it takes him days to recover from one of our fights." Ryou winced. He hadn't known that, either.

Yugi wasn't going to help, either. Yugi had been opposed to manipulating Sith's memories, and history, and the fact that it was going to destroy her made him want to tell her what truly happened even more. Eyes narrowing slowly, he asked, "Sith, did he happen to call you before he left?" Sith sniffed, and then she nodded. She didn't even notice that _he_ had asked her, not Xemnas.

"Yes. I was so furious that I let it go to voicemail," she replied regretfully, "Imagine my shock when he told me he had to see me, he had to talk. He sounded… sick. I was worried he'd gone drinking, and would be severely intoxicated when I walked in. But I returned anyway.

"When I did, he was already gone," she continued, and Ryou felt the air around him grow cold, "I thought he had second thoughts and left to cool down. If I had known… damn it, sometimes I think I should have gone after him." But she knew if she had, Kira would have escaped. One more world would fall to the corruption of darkness. She had to let Mello die.

Unfortunately, Sith's sadness came to a sudden stop. Not because she wasn't distraught with the death of her guardian and at-the-time lover, but because of another reason, an inconsistency that was beginning to nag at the back of her mind. She hadn't remembered telling anyone much of anything about her time with Mello. Only Katt really knew anything about that, with Saix knowing only the briefest of facts – and he only knew because he made Sith tell him! Suddenly seeming suspicious of her own friends, Sith asked, "How did you know he had called?" Ryou was glaring, but Yugi ignored him. Ryou might've been a guardian, but Yugi was her friend, and for all intense and purpose, somewhat adopted brother.

"Do you want the truth, or do you want what I think happened?" he asked her, much the same way she did when shit had hit the fan. Sith's suspicion became edged with anger. She looked directly at Ryou, and knew that whatever had happened was his doing. The look on his face, and the perspiration, was enough of an answer for her.

"What in the name of Hell have you done _this_ time?" she demanded harshly. Ryou swallowed hard. Now he began to see the side-effects that could hit _him_. One of them – and this one would be particularly bad – was death. Sith's tone indicated she wasn't in the mood for dancing around.

"Sith, before you get angry, remember that we fell into your memories," Ryou began, but that sounded far less promising than it did in his head. And it hadn't sounded good to begin with. Sith's eyes narrowed, and she crossed her arms stiffly. That was definitely not a good sign. A stubborn Sith was sometimes far worse than a drunken one.

"And how did that happen?" she asked calmly, but that calm was poisoned with fury, a fury that would definitely spell pain if Ryou wasn't careful with his words. He had a feeling he would be very dead, if Yugi didn't help him.

"We dove into a portal when we found the souls of the others," Yugi told her, and she looked at him curiously, "When you jumped through Xigbar's portal, it scrambled reality. We were caught in between living and death." Sith glanced fractionally at Xigbar. He laughed, shaking his head.

"Uh… oops," he said unhelpfully, with a shrug, "I was kind of wondering where you two went after that. Guess this old dude's losing his touch." Ryou was surprised when Sith didn't go after him. In fact, she seemed to ignore him. Though, that was only because she was too angry with whatever bullshit Ryou was going to say to her. He wasn't safe yet.

"Yugi, before I go slaughtering everyone else in this valley, do tell me what happened in this 'memory' of mine," she said very, very slowly. Ryou's magic had been dwindling, but Sith's fury was enough to get him to hear, 'It wasn't just my memory you screwed up, you idiot.' The fact that Xemnas had a note with him was enough proof of that.

"I wasn't in the hall, but I overheard a lot of it," he told her seriously, looking up at her, "Mello and Matt were arguing. Ryou went down to see what he could do to try and change what happened. I think he thought if Mello lived, you'd be happier." Sith's eyes widened. Then, her face went through a multitude of expressions – none of them particularly reassuring. It settled, finally, on disbelief. She shook her head. Of course, somehow, this would be her fault.

"Tell me, that despite the high stupidity your kind is capable of, that you did _not_, in any way shape or form, tell him to not go after Kira!" Sith said, quietly at first but quickly rising in pitch. Ryou's lips went thin, and furiously, Sith exclaimed, "_Ryou!_"

"He wasn't even going to tell you!" Ryou cried defensively. But, for a woman who had known too much about Mello's mindset, that wasn't good enough. Sith's fury broke.

"He was trying to protect me, you stupid boy!" Sith yelled, and the ferocity behind her words were enough to stagger Ryou. He fell backwards, looking up at her with a new fear he never thought he'd have felt for her. The fire in her eyes alone… it was like looking directly into the heart of hell. Now he understood how she could be a demon.

In that moment, Ryou knew now why he was never meant to be anything but her friend, why he wasn't even a guardian, no matter how much he wanted to be. Sith was terrifying, her anger reaching a pitch that it had never been to before. Right now, he felt as if he could dissolve into nothing. Mello wouldn't have been afraid of her. Neither would Aeon, or any of her guardians. Not even Yugi was afraid of the malevolent and volatile force before them all. Saix would have simply laughed, ruffled her hair, and held her in his iron grip. But Ryou? He was too worried about the flare in Sith's eyes to even wonder what he should do to calm her down.

He wasn't sure if he should've been thankful that Xemnas was there. Xemnas, with even more will than Saix had, put a hand on Sith's shoulder and said, "There's no need to kill him, Sith. Mello still went after Kira. Mello still died as he should have." Sith seemed to relax, but only so much.

"What else have you both done?" she asked, the fury slowly subsiding. She seemed more tired than she was angry. Yugi's expression turned to confliction. He wanted to tell Sith about Ryou's displacement – and the subsequent discovery – of Sami's body. But that particular change had been so ingrained and had changed Sith so directly, that she might not even know what he was talking about.

Xemnas made it clear he wasn't willing to just lie to Sith. He held her just a bit tighter and said, "You were discovered and imprisoned in Algon's jail for impersonating a young woman who had died a week before, around seven years ago, correct?" Sith looked up at Xemnas, surprised that he had known this. She nodded. Xemnas's smile went cruel, and he looked at Ryou. Sith easily understood.

"Katt promised me I would be safe," she stated, her glare returning to Ryou, "We needed time. We had to set up a trap so that we could face Rath before she grew too strong. I had to get to Katsaiga and ask her to help us."

"And when you were imprisoned?" Xemnas goaded gently, eyes narrowing knowingly. Sith knew her words would cut a deep wound in Ryou's conscious. Mainly because what happened should – and possibly would – affect his own life. To the point where she was no longer part of it.

"Katsaiga had no idea what to do. She had no choice but to go on without me when she realized Rath was going to seize power more swiftly than I anticipated," Sith explained emptily, not even noticing Xemnas's almost possessive grip on her shoulder, "I…" Sith went silent, and Xemnas found himself being pulled down as she sunk to her knees, holding her head.

"Sith?" he called, trying unsuccessfully to pull himself – and her – back up. She groaned softly. She was in pain.

"I have no idea what's happened," she said quietly, letting Xemnas support her, "It's… it's as though two different sets of memories are inside of me, yet I've experienced neither of them." Xemnas's cruelty vanished, and he looked genuinely concerned now. He knew fully that the memories of those involved with Sith after her departure from Mello would be affected. But he never thought hers would be spliced and melded together.

"You don't remember what's happened?" Xemnas asked, and turned her to look into her eyes. The pupils were reacting normally. Physical duress wasn't the cause. Sith shook her head.

"I don't remember which set of events happened," she explained, her head still throbbing, "I remember coming to Ryou's world. I remember being imprisoned. I remember traveling to Sylatone and finding it empty. But after that, everything gets foggy. I don't remember how I met Ryou, or how I ended up living in Domino City."

"That's convenient," Ryou mumbled too loudly. He realized everyone heard him, and winced when Yugi furiously nudged him in the ribs. Sith, in particular, was especially vexed with him.

"I suggest you shut up before I kill you, Ryou," she growled. He didn't even need to see that Yugi agreed with her. He sighed. He thought his actions had helped her.

"Sith, how bad is it?" Yugi asked her gently, trying to dispel the tension already in the air. For a minute, Sith seemed certain to lose her temper. Then, she calmed down. Yugi wasn't the reason her mind was in constant conflict. Yugi didn't deserve to have Zealacht wedged up his arse.

"Patches are seeming to disappear," she told him, trying to smile but failing, "I remember you all, but specific events are becoming vague and dream-like. For instance, I don't remember winning the second-prize badge in Kaiba's Marquis Tournament three years ago, but I have the badge pinned in my coat." Yugi hummed, nodding, but had to look away. Ryou's actions were doing far worse than he wanted. Sith still remembered him, but her memories were fading while she still had them. That would be far more painful than if her mind had been altered all at once.

Knowing Vexen was the nobody of a doctor, Yugi looked at him and asked, "Is there any way to reverse this?" There was such pleading in his voice. Vexen sighed, looking from him, to Sith. He had seen many things. He had never seen this.

"Unless you can go back and reverse what you've already done, then there isn't," the Nobody informed him gravely, and when Yugi was about to volunteer, he said, "Even if you did, there's no guarantee that the reality you knew would come back." Yugi's spirit crashed. His fists clenched, his anger boiling. He knew this was a bad idea. He knew this would be nothing but trouble. He knew it, and he tried to warn Ryou. And the damned idiot thought he was helping Sith by talking to Mello, and hiding that woman's corpse. All he really did was make it easier for Rath to fuck their world over.

"Nice going, Ryou," Yugi mumbled. Sith laid a hand on the younger boy's shoulder. He looked up. His eyes were watered.

"Yugi, this isn't his fault," she said with a sigh. Upon seeing Ryou's smile, however, she grimly added, "Not _entirely_ his fault. Sheer idiocy has a tendency to take control of our rational thinking." Ryou's smile faded. She was definitely pissed off with him. He didn't even blame her. Thinking on it, he knew he acted badly.

"I'm sorry. I thought I was helping you," Ryou told her truthfully, "I thought you deserved more closure than Mello gave you. I thought what Katt did was wrong."

"You had no right changing my past like that, Ryou," Sith pointed out firmly. She wasn't malicious. But the words stung terribly. Understanding, yet in no way sympathetic, Sith continued, "There is nothing to be done but to walk the path you forged for me. We'll deal with your consequences when we return to your time." Ryou blinked, stared at her. From how things seemed before, she wasn't going back.

"We're going home?" he asked her curiously. Her lips thinned, her mouth slanted. In truth, she had no home anymore. The biggest consequence was that Ryou never met her; without him, she had no home to live at. The fact that he knew her now, however, didn't escape her.

"At the very least, you two should at some point," she suggested strongly, and looked up at the cloudy sky, "No telling what's happened to everyone, but I doubt it'd do much good for me to go there." Ryou saw Yugi's fists clench again, and saw that more than a few of the Nobodies had looked away. Now, he was concerned.

"Why can't you come home?" he asked her. Silence fell as she looked at him, with an intensity he had never seen. Her eyes glinted for a moment. Was she looking at him? Or was she looking into his soul?

"Because I no longer exist to you or your friends," she replied quietly. In that second, the world around Ryou seemed to waver, then fall apart. Sith _didn't exist!_ That wasn't possible. She was right there, in front of him! He shivered, his eyes watered, he struggled to speak. But she merely smiled sadly and said, "Once we return to your time, your memories of me will simply disappear."

"That can't be true!" Ryou cried desperately, tears spilling, "Sith, it… it…"

"I was imprisoned by the time you were kidnapped, Ryou," she told him gently, but her voice sounded so foggy, so distant, "We never met anymore. Everything that you thought happened with me… hasn't happened any longer." It was all disappearing. He knew it. Even now, as she spoke, something was telling him this was wrong. He fell to his knees, clutching his head in pain. No! It couldn't end this way! Sith was his friend, his best friend! His mentor, his sister, she was just too much to just not exist anymore!

"You still have time," Xemnas said calmly, and Ryou looked up at him pleadingly, "As long as you remain in the past, your memories of Sith will not diminish. It is only within the future that she no longer exists for you."

"Does that mean Mello, and the other guardians, and Saix don't remember her, either?" Yugi asked him, as Ryou continued to try holding back his tears. Xemnas chuckled, shook his head. They managed to screw up badly, but they hadn't screwed up _everything_.

"It was only within your world that you splintered reality. Everyone before that time will remember Sith," Xemnas assured him, and grinned, "As for Saix, well… he met Sith because of Rath." Yugi smiled a bit. At least Sith would have that. Sensing the small boy's relief, Xemnas glanced slyly at Sith and said, "He never once forgot about you. He kept looking out most nights, wondering if he'd see you flying across the moon again." Xemnas was an ass. Sith's face went scarlet.

"He remembered me even after I told him not to," she said, and Xemnas nodded. She sighed. She was glad he had, after all. But if he did anything even remotely stupid…

"Hey, if it helps, he did punch the first Nobody who accused him of being in 'love' with you," Xigbar unhelpfully added with a grin, "Of course, no one knew who 'you' were. We thought he was making shit up at first." Sith's flat look turned into a glare. If he wasn't trying to insult her, she would've laughed. Or just shaken her head.

Looking instead to Ryou, she saw he was still kneeling. His expression pained her. He truly had no idea that the consequences could be this severe. Gently, she said, "There are reasons Aeon didn't want you becoming so involved, Ryou. He knew you'd try this."

"I'm so sorry," he said quietly. Sith smiled, knelt beside him. She looked so benevolent, it was hard to believe she could possibly be a demonic, evil Esper.

"All things are done for a reason," she said to him, and he looked at her, "Perhaps you are undoing the things that have made your world grow unbalanced. The sheer forces of darkness released by Amber and Falnika are enough to shatter most weaker worlds. The fact that yours is intact is rather a miracle." Ryou had agreed before, and he agreed now. Domino, for one, couldn't handle another bombing from the abyss. Duran had been completely obliterated, and all of the Chesiers were dead. Who knew what became of the other cities near them?

"But I thought I screwed up," he pointed out. Sith sighed. She had been harsh, and she knew it. But her anger had taken over, and she had to get through his thick skull. She should've been gentler. Ryou was only a child.

"Only in the sense that I'm no longer in your life once you return home," she explained calmly, "But, Ryou, we all have purpose. I said you wouldn't be in my future. We now know why. But that doesn't mean you won't have greatness. You're destined for it, even without me."

"How do you know?" he whispered. She smiled, that spark of knowing just burning in her eyes.

"I don't help anyone without potential," she said, "You took time to grow. But you've grown, Ryou. Maybe _my_ part was to help you grow so that you _could_ defend your world without me. Maybe yours was to teach me patience. Not even I know.

"But I'm old enough to know when something is supposed to happen. As much as we both hate to admit it, you're supposed to forget my existence," she continued, and her gentleness relieved both him and Yugi, "You've learned almost everything I could teach you." They both understood that _almost anything_ had to do with the fact that she could not teach them about magic. At least, not how to use it. But that never meant they couldn't defend themselves from it.

"So what'll happen to you when we stop Rath?" Yugi asked her, "Where will you go?" Sith sighed. That one, she wasn't sure of. There was no telling if Nesce would still be standing once this feud was over with. And there was no telling that she'd come out the victor.

"That depends on a lot of things," she said after a moment, "Most of them hinging on whether or not Saix is coming with me. Now that we've altered his own past, there may be a chance he'll change his mind." Somewhere, she heard Xigbar snort. The old Nobody shook his head.

"Not happening. Berserker Boy made up his mind pretty quickly," he told the three with a grin, "You met him before being a Nobody completely screwed him over." Ryou had a feeling he might pay for that when he said farewell to Sith. For now, she pretended not to be annoyed.

"It'll also depend on whether or not I'm even alive," she told Ryou, ignoring Xigbar entirely. Except that the man had a want and a need to butt into everything he should've rather stayed out of.

"What, you planning on dying?" Xigbar asked her, and added with a shrug, "Ah, well, at least Mello will be pretty damn happy." Sith growled under her breath. The reminder that Mello would be quite dead forever was not a good one for her. He was, for all intense and purpose, one of the closest people in her life. And he was Saix's successor.

"Rath grows more powerful with every second. Every second unraveled means that I have less and less time before she completely erases my family," Sith reminded them, and sadly said, "My poor siblings. Their souls will be in peril if I don't succeed." It was safe to say no one wanted that for the Winchester line. Ryou felt obligated to at least make sure Katt survived.

"Oblivion itself will be," Ryou corrected, to which Sith agreed, "But that blast knocked her out of the sky. Do you think it was enough to kill her?" Sith didn't, but it had its own effect. Rath would have a hard time returning to the battlefield. And there wasn't much point trying to come up with another one. Lightning Valley was where it all started between the two of them. It was where it'd have to end.

"It may be her undoing," Sith mused, looking upwards, "If only I knew where it actually sent her, I could go after her. But Nesce is large. To search and leave this place unguarded would be insanity."

"What if _we_ guarded it?" Demyx offered her. Sith shook her head.

"If she comes back, she will kill you all. With me here, she won't dare to," was the bitter reply. Everyone exchanged glances, trying to figure out what that was supposed to mean. Vexen was the only one with the guts to ask.

"Why is that?" he asked her. Sith's eyes glinted as she returned her gaze to them all. They looked almost red, yet it wasn't the hue to normally signify anger. It was deeper. Bloodier. It was the demonic prowess resting inside of her.

"Because she knows that while she takes care of you, I'll have no reason not to disembowel her," Sith said coldly, her voice taking a tone that was not quite _Sith_. Ryou shivered. He rarely heard her like that; the last time he had, she was in that demonic cat form she would no longer use. Same tone, same power behind the voice.

"Ruthless to the end, are you?" Xemnas commented slyly, tilting his head toward her, "How much of your Divinity has left you?" Sith narrowed her eyes. Xemnas knew an awful lot about her, to not have known her before.

"I cannot access that form without my mother's pin," Sith admitted to him, "But I never truly lose what I am." Ryou shivered. Sith was many things, indeed – many of which scared him terribly. But Sith was still Sith. That never changed.

"And is Rath the same?" he asked her. Sith looked at him for a minute, and he rephrased, "Does Rath have another form we ought to be aware of?" Sith hummed. From what she remembered, Rath did not. But that meant nothing. Three thousand years was a long time. Espers could pick up any number of powers within such a time-frame. Sith herself had picked up many. Too many for her liking.

Not sure of what to really say, Sith quietly answered, "Not to my knowledge. But that doesn't mean she doesn't." Ryou gave an understanding nod. Even if she was thousands of years old, Sith's knowledge was only limited. Especially if her memory was being scrambled. Considering that much, she was doing well to get them this far.

"We probably won't know until we find her again," Yugi suggested simply. Sith knew an implication when she heard one. She laughed; it bordered on hysterical.

"For someone who can't fight her, you certainly are eager to send me to the gallows, Yugi," she said to him, grinning. He blushed. He hadn't actually meant to make her run off. He simply was being honest.

Well, several more could play at that game. Xigbar, who was becoming renowned as being no help whatsoever to Sith, just grinned again and said, "Well? _Are_ we going to find her again?" Sith looked at him with a mixture of annoyance and amusement. If he weren't a Nobody, she'd have considered inflicting some pain on him. As it was, he'd just find a way to drive her completely insane until she killed herself. Part of her wondered if he was actually on Rath's side or not.

"_We_," she indicated herself, Xemnas, and several of the other Nobodies, "Are going to secure this place, and sniff her out when we know she has no traps for us. _You_ are going to sit with Xaldin and shut your mouth." It didn't help that Xaldin, on some sheer whim of the gods, switched sides and agreed with her on that one. He simply grinned at Xigbar, who slumped and stalked over.

When she felt Xaldin had Xigbar under control enough to not need her, she turned to Ryou and said, "I'm not sure how you'll be able to help me out, Ryou. As it stands, Zerrkandr no longer works and you have no way else to battle." The words felt harsher than she intended, but Ryou understood she was just concerned for his welfare. He, at least, had a home to go to when this was done. He still had family and friends who needed him. He nodded, shrugging.

"I think we can still help you search, can't we?" he offered. Sith's expression said she didn't like the idea. But she had nowhere else to put the two of them, so she had to accept. They were probably safest when they were with her, anyway.

"I don't like it, but if you're up to it, then let's go," she finally said. She turned toward where Xemnas was waiting. He was looking directly north, where Rath had been blown off. Before she went to him, she glanced at Ryou and said, "The first chance we get to send you home, you take it." There was no question to her voice. He knew either he'd take that chance, or she'd throw him in and not care where he ended up.

It took over two hours before Sith felt the valley was secure enough. They scoured every area, searching for traps – otherworldly or not – or monsters waiting to ambush them. But nothing was there. Rath had come alone, and had wanted a clean fight. She wanted to wipe Sith out before her past self ever made it to the valley. Then, she could go to Aeroglyph and destroy the family, and they would never have expected it. Ryou found himself glad that Xigbar had shown up, after all. The man possibly saved Sith's life.

Of course, providing security was only half the job. Sith knew Rath would come back. She and Xemnas planned on it happening, and placed the other Nobodies accordingly. Xigbar and Xaldin were placed on the western cliff faces, Xigbar's guns aimed toward the north, where they expected her to arrive from. Luxord and Demyx were placed on the eastern slopes; like the previous team, they were facing the north. Vexen and Lexaeus were planted at the south side of the valley – as much for surprise as it was for defense. That left Sith defending the center with Xemnas, Marluxia, and Larxene; she was disheartened by the memory that Saix would have helped with the defense, if he were there at all.

As for Ryou and Yugi, they hid away in a nook between two boulders and the cliff wall. Sith had been clear that they weren't to be involved in the fighting. And with no real weapons to their names, both boys were inclined to agree with her. So, instead, Yugi suggested they wait behind the scenes and help out when _he_ felt they needed it. With everything that had happened so far, he wasn't sure he trusted Ryou's judgment. Ryou didn't exactly blame him for it, either.

"Anything happening out there?" Ryou whispered, as Yugi peeked around the boulder to where the Esper stood, with Xemnas close by. Yugi peered a second longer, saw nothing, and shook his head, returning to his seat.

"A whole lot of nothing," he replied glumly, drawing a circle in the dirt with his finger, "They're just waiting. I don't think she's going to come back." Ryou wasn't so sure of that. Sith had foiled more than enough of Rath's plans, but the Mystic kept coming back for more. Nothing was really stopping her from doing so once more.

"It's a tactic of war," Ryou told him gently, and Yugi just sighed, "Look, don't be so impatient, Yugi. Sith's been in wars before even Bakura was born. She knows how this game works."

"But we could be going after her!" Yugi exclaimed in exasperation, throwing his arms up, "Sith could try finding her!" He dared a look at Ryou. The man's face had grown serious; most of the gentleness seemed to have left him, making him look far more like Bakura than even he would've admitted.

"And risk being ambushed," Ryou put in grimly, and Yugi found himself shutting his mouth, "Yugi, one way of winning a war is to tire your enemy out until they undo themselves. Sith has no choice. We walked into an ambush in Aeroglyph; she won't risk losing anyone else." But who knew how long it'd take for Sith's tactics to work. Three thousand years was a long time. Both Esper and Mystic had more stamina than the others gathered combined.

"Well, it better not take a long time," Yugi mumbled unhappily, "Sith said we'd have to go home. I'd like to do that while I'm still living." Ryou just rolled his eyes. Sometimes, he could understand why Sith wanted to just bash her head into the walls. Dealing with his friends was like dealing with a pack of spoiled brats.

Though Yugi had grown impatient, it hadn't taken long for anything to shift, to alert Sith to danger. The wind had been calm during the time they'd been in the valley, and the air had been warm with the late summer month. When a chill breeze had ripped across the valley, Sith instantly became wary. Behind her, she felt Xemnas stiffen. When there was a low moan in the air, they both turned north.

The sky was beginning to turn dusky purple, the horizon a bright line of orange. It was hard to tell if daylight was breaking, or if dusk was falling. But nothing else came; there were no shadows overhead, no specks in the sky. Sith waited, listening intently. Her ears twitched; it was also hard to tell what was the wind, and what might've been an actual person. She backed up a step. She felt Xemnas's hand on her back, and stiffened up herself. It felt familiar – she felt the same warmth she felt for Saix – yet it felt alien to her as well. She prayed this war would finally end soon.

Yugi and Ryou felt the sudden shift as well. They looked out over the boulders, at the groups placed along the valley walls. Xigbar and Xaldin were the most alert; Demyx was practically asleep. But the others were waiting, listening. Ryou tried to grow more alert as well. He simply wasn't sure what the shift had brought.

Something clanked off of Sith's sword. She looked down, noticed only a small, black pebble. Her brow arched. How had a pebble become stuck to her blade? Glancing back at Xemnas, she bent down and examined the rock. It was smooth, its surface glinting in the light. And when she bent closer still, she felt warmth coming from it. She also heard something that she knew normal rocks did not have: she heard a faint ticking sound. Her eyes widened. What in hell was this abomination?

'_Sith!_' A voice not unlike Mello's screamed her name, and Sith stood up immediately. She turned to Xemnas and Larxene, and without giving any explanation, she screamed, "_RUN!_" That sent the other teams in a scurry; half wanted to stay, the other half went bolting away like children. Not even a half-minute later, Xemnas understood the cause of Sith's sudden outburst. Where she had been standing, an explosion powerful enough to wipe out his entire world erupted. And it almost took them all.

Sith's magic saved them all. She knew well she couldn't outrun the bomb. Instead, she ran in range to be able to hit everyone, and threw her best barrier spells around them all. It took nearly all of her power; she had to resort to using her own life force just to keep Xemnas from being turned into a bloody heap. But she did it. No one died. Not yet. And if she had her way, she'd keep it that way.

Next, it was Xemnas's turn. He used his power over nothing to implode the bomb, knowing everyone was protected in Sith's spells. In minutes, the explosion was eradicated, though the smoke was thick and it still choked the entire group. Xaldin's power over the wind cleared that up – when he had enough fresh air in his own lungs to do it! When they could see, they saw the explosion, while not harming anyone in the valley, tore the valley walls up and destroyed what little had been left. The earth was scorched and blackened beneath their feet.

"What the hell happened?" Marluxia asked, looking from Sith, to Xemnas. Neither could answer. Neither knew.

"She knew you all would come," Sith finally said after a minute of utter silence. She looked up at Xemnas again. He wore a similarly grim expression.

"So, are we totally screwed now?" Larxene asked her. Sith's lips thinned. She hated the idea of being trapped. But something had thrown that bomb. But the reason was unknown to her. Was it to hurt them, or to distract her and use up what little of her magic remained? Either one could cause them to slip.

"If we maintain some semblance of order, we'll be fine," Sith grumbled, "We need to round up anyone who's run off." Xemnas knew exactly who to get to pull it off. He called Xaldin and sent him to do the job. The Nobody, while extremely irritated, was more than willing. He was gone before Sith knew he'd been summoned.

Ten minutes later, the groups were reassigned and everyone was back in their place. This time, Sith took no chances. Her stance turned aggressive, her hands gripping Zealacht's hilt until her knuckles went white. Behind her, Xemnas's blades were blazing in his hands. Larxene had four knives in each hand. And Marluxia was working hard on creating rings of thorns around them all to protect them when Sith's spells failed. As for the others, they continued their work as spotters. Xigbar and Luxord would be able to blanket the area with gunfire; Demyx and Xaldin would add rain and wind when it'd benefit the others the most. Vexen and Lexaeus would disrupt Rath – or anyone she sent in her place.

Behind the rocks, Ryou and Yugi sat and waited. Sith had been far wiser than them; they would only get in the way now. Peering occasionally, Yugi filled Ryou in after the smoke cleared. Ryou continued to wait. Rath was coming. It was only a matter of time before she arrived. Ryou just prayed that, when she did, his newest idea would work. It would take precise timing. It would risk his life, and Yugi's future. It would probably piss Sith off so much that she might never forgive him for it. But it might just be enough to take Rath down.

Another bomb was thrown, again clinking off of Zealacht before erupting. But this time, there was no fire. It was simply a smoke bomb. This time, Xaldin was faster. His tornado blew the smoke away. And he revealed the one who threw the bombs at them. It was…

"Matt!" Zealacht slid from Sith's hand, clanging onto the ground as the woman stared, wide-eyed, at her old friend. Or rather, the man who used to be her friend. Though it was Matt's body who stood in front of her, there was no recognition in his eyes, nothing to say he knew who he was actually attacking.

"Matt, answer me!" Sith exclaimed in exasperation, and grabbed his shoulders, "What's happened to you! Where is Mello?" Matt's mouth turned into a grin. Sith let go, and was sure that her voice had come through. Except that the next thing she knew, he hit her so hard that she was thrown right into the rock far behind her. The blow shattered it, and left her nearly broken.

"Matt!" Ryou screamed, as Yugi came running, yelling, "What the hell did you do!" Both had makeshift weapons in their hands; Yugi threw his toward Matt. The red-head raised a hand; the weapon shattered on impact.

Xemnas turned and attempted to slice into him. His blades didn't connect. A clock-blade deflected the blow, sending him flying, only to land clumsily next to Demyx. Ryou and Yugi stopped, watching as Aeon suddenly appeared, thrusting his weapon relentlessly at Marluxia and Larxene. Neither were quick enough to deflect the blows. Marluxia was covered with fresh wounds before Larxene could turn and run. The former collapsed entirely; he was done for.

Xigbar didn't hesitate. As soon as Marluxia hit the ground, he aimed his guns and fired blindly. He didn't care who he hit; it didn't matter if it was Matt or Aeon. Someone was going to die. But he never expected to be shot back. And when the gunfire cleared, he saw he hadn't hit anyone. But someone else was going to shoot him. Xaldin grabbed him and dove for the ground. And when they looked, they saw Mello was there, two guns blazing and plugging away at the cliff face. One rock came loose, slamming into Xaldin and throwing him over the edge. Xigbar rolled, landing below. He found Demyx, Luxord, and Vexen unconscious. Lexaeus was in combat with Basch.

Ryou watched it all unfold with disbelief. Aeon. Matt. Mello. Basch. All of them were Sith's guardians. But their souls had been trapped in Oblivion. They shouldn't have been there, and certainly not engaging against Sith and the few allies she had left. But there they were. And they were winning; Xigbar and Lexeaus were cut down instantly. Soon, the only ones left – aside from Ryou and Yugi – were Sith and Xemnas. Xemnas was trying to keep Sith on her feet.

"What… are you all doing?" Sith asked softly, staring at her four former guardians as they advanced. She backed away. Xemnas drew his blades and stepped before her. One blast from Mello's guns knocked him down.

"Stop!" Sith said in terror, knowing she was next. Forcefully, she said, "Stop! Aeon! Mello! What's become of you! Don't you recognize me!" What hurt the most was that clearly, they didn't. Sith gripped her blade harder, knowing something was wrong. It was their eyes. They didn't look right. They were darker than she remembered.

She didn't have a lot of time to ponder it, though. Aeon came fast and struck hard. Zealacht's blade was singing before Sith could fully form a defense. She backed up the cliff wall slightly, and used the power of her deflection to propel her over Aeon's head. Reversing her blade, she swept Mello over, spun, and took Matt out in one blow. She was ready for Aeon's next hit. He came again, and this time, Sith's timing was better. Their blades connected, sending sparks that ignited the dry roots around them. Aeon was a good swordsman; Sith happened to be far better.

The only problem was that she hadn't knocked Mello out. She thought she had, but in one second, he rolled and tripped her legs. She fell on top of him, and he instantly pinned her down. Now she was in trouble. Aeon was closing in on her, and if he didn't get her, Basch still could. Her single wing thrashed, trying to wrench the blonde off of her. And when Aeon came too close, she kicked upwards. The blow sent him pinwheeling backwards. He slammed into the near cliff face.

Mello's confusion was his own undoing, as well. The brief second he let go was the chance Sith needed. She rolled, came up, and swung her leg. She hit Mello's side, and he groaned miserably. One more hit, and he fell to the ground. Taking Zealacht, she used the flat of the blade to knock him out this time. When she heard clapping, she spun quickly and threw her sword up. It almost clipped Rath, who'd reappeared during the brief frenzy. But Sith had been half-blind, hadn't aimed properly. The blade was too wide, went spinning off into parts unknown.

"Goodness, your skills are just as sharp as they'd been back then, too," Rath commented slyly, glancing back toward where Zealacht had flown off, "Even against your own guardians, you could have killed them."

"What have you done to them!" Sith demanded furiously, glaring upwards, eyes blazing crimson. Rath's brow perked. She nearly laughed.

"Me? I've done nothing," she said simply, and then added, "Nothing, but resurrect their souls. Unfortunately, magic has a way of screwing you over, doesn't it? Since _I_ resurrected them, they are _my_ guardians now." Sith's mouth fell open. Guardians protected their Espers from all threats. Sith was a threat to Rath. And now, Sith's guardians were no longer Sith's guardians.

"You… _You!_" Sith wasn't sure whether screaming or throttling someone would make the pain disappear, "_You've befouled my men!_" Ryou wondered if Ryuuzaki and Kaiba shared similar fates. They had taken their roles only recently, yet were as fiercely loyal as Aeon and Mello had been. Perhaps they no longer remembered Sith, either.

Rath, however, merely laughed. It made the air split, made the world seem thin and drawn. "How many men will you claim, Sith? Is one not enough?" Rath asked her tauntingly, "Do you even care about your own guardians?" With the blows she just delivered, it was hard to believe she did. But Sith knew death would be an act of mercy for four tortured souls. Souls that had once been by her side.

"They've done far more for me than I deserve," Sith growled, stiffening, "I was no queen for them, but I will make sure they won't serve you."

"Will you?" Rath repeated, and gave her a grin, "They already have. You've only eliminated the baggage." At this, Sith screamed something incoherent. She lunged; she had no claws or sword, but she would tear Rath's heart out with her bare hands. This was the last straw. She had no orbs, nothing to completely eradicate the wretched soul plaguing her. She didn't need them. She never did. Closer, closer the body of her hated enemy came. Just a few more feet…

Something slammed Sith so hard that she hit the ground, creating a crater in the center of the valley. Her vision went blurry, black dots blossoming in mid-air. She could barely see what had hit her. A smudge of black. A smudge of blue. Two piercing, golden dots that seemed so far away. She should've recognized it. But her mind was going slowly again. Too many hits that day. Too much damage done.

For reasons unknown, Rath did not order her newest servant to kill. Then, it all hit Sith, showered her like jagged glass. Not all of her guardians – excluding anyone involved in Ryou's world – had shown up. There was one she hadn't seen. And he was what hit her: Saix. She sat up, mind dizzy and eyes unfocused. Slowly, the world came into focus. He was in a berserk state. That hit should've smashed her into pieces. He restrained himself.

But it wasn't because of love. Rath made that clear when she said, "Good boy. You're learning how to break your toys without destroying them." Saix didn't appear to respond other than to roar. Sith felt limp, lifeless. She was going to fight Saix for the fourth time that day. It was becoming too much.

"Sith!" Sith turned and saw Ryou and Yugi were still there. They were already running toward her. All she could do was smile. Ryou knelt down, and his heart nearly broke. Her eyes weren't right anymore, either. They were still steel-jade. They were still cat-like. But there was no fire in them anymore. There was no spirit left. Sith was fading, just like everyone else had.

"Sith!" Ryou called again, bordering on panic, "My god, Sith! Don't give up! Don't do this! You have to fight!" Sith didn't speak. She continued staring up at him, eyes glassy, watered. She no longer wanted to fight. Harming Aeon had been too hard on her soul. Crushing Mello had been too much, too. Fighting Saix? She was going to be killed. Maybe death really was her rest.

For once in her long life, Sith Winchester considered letting herself die, like the thousands of mortals she'd slaughtered with her own sword.

-(End Chapter)

When news of their drastic effects reach Yugi and Ryou, Yugi forces the issue and tells Sith all that Ryou changed in the past. Xemnas also informs her that all is unwell, and that Rath is continuing her trail of destruction on the timeline. Sith plans to secure the Lightning Valley and find a way to bring Ryou home. Yet something has changed; Rath has resurrected Sith's former guardians, turning them into her mindless toys. Sith can handle disarming her former friends. But when Saix appears to defend the woman he promised to kill, Sith finds her spirit shattered. Can Ryou and Yugi bring her back? Or has Rath won by possessing the one key to Aeroglyph's return? Find out next chapter, so click that Review button!


	26. The Last Stand

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or Kingdom Hearts. Takahashi owns Yu-Gi-Oh, and Square-Enix won the bid for Death Note and Castlevania. We'll be seeing Kingdom Hearts: Dracula's Notebook very, very soon.

Ryou was young. He had been in battles, had seen things no man his age should see. But he knew a particularly crushing blow when he saw it. And he knew when to tell when a person would break. He never thought Sith could pass it. But she had. Her eyes were duller, no longer sparkling, no longer holding amusement to them. They were haunted, spelled out an ending to a death she had put off for thousands of years. They gave him the message Sith had never spoken, the one that said, 'I've had enough.' Sith had finally given up. And the answer, the cause, and the solution, were all up above, watching him.

Ryou knew he'd have to do battle. He wouldn't be her guardian once he went home, but he hadn't gone home yet. Sith was still his queen and his closest companion. She needed him. He looked up, saw Saix watching him. The man's eyes bored through him, seemed to understand the silent thoughts Ryou was having. Did he know Sith was nearly dead? Did he care? Did he remember her at all? His face looked so impassive. He had no qualms hitting her with so much force.

Ryou brought his fists up. He had no sword, but he would still battle. He created half of this mess. He'd end whatever amount of it he could. He heard Rath laughing hysterically, and he didn't care. He kept his eyes on Saix. The Nobody simply stared down at the three of them.

"What a stupid boy you are!" Rath exclaimed, shaking her head, "Very well! You've been a thorn in my side long enough, Ryou Bakura. Saix, slay him!" Saix snarled and dove toward Ryou, his claymore aimed. Ryou waited, and jumped back as the blade arched at where he had been a second before. He avoided a hit, but the wind swept him back, almost into Yugi.

"Protect her," Ryou growled at his friend, sidestepping another swipe. He jabbed fast, his fist connecting with Saix's cheek. The man didn't slow. He brushed Ryou away, sent him sprawling. Ryou understood that he wasn't the only target. Yugi was, as well. Yugi was encumbered because of Sith.

But when Saix went to hit him instead, Yugi showed his true colors. The Millennium Puzzle came into view around his neck, and blasted Saix with a thin, golden ray. Saix was thrown back almost thirty feet. He grunted, shook his head, and charged again. Yugi shot another dazzling ray.

"Keep trying, jackass," Yugi said furiously, pumping as much power as he could into his puzzle, "When you separated Yami from time, you gave his powers to the only person who could use them. To me." Ryou turned, and could only stare. What did that mean? Was Yugi still Yugi, or had he and Yami merged from the alterations? Was that why he had chosen to tell Sith the truth? Was that why he stopped trusting Ryou?

Saix's only response was to jump out of the way. He couldn't complete his task. He turned, went after Ryou. Ryou closed his eyes and brought up both fists to block the blow. It never hit. It never began. Instead, a searing light flared up, and Ryou found the Millennium Ring on his chest. All five points were flashing. And before he knew it, five black bolts of lightning arced, smashing Saix. Suddenly, he found himself knowing exactly how to unleash the spells Bakura should've had. He found himself running the cliff wall, a technique Bakura only knew.

"Yugi, keep him distracted!" Ryou called, and Yugi nodded. As soon as Saix was up, Yugi sent flashes of lights erupting around the confused man. Saix snarled, stumbling back. They were blinding him. He staggered forward when Ryou lunged, tackling him. It wasn't enough to knock him to the ground. But it was breaking his concentration.

At least, Ryou thought. But when Saix spun his claymore, sweeping Ryou and throwing him right into Yugi, the blow was enough to break their hold on their power. They rolled to absorb the worst of the hit. But it gave Saix the opening Rath wanted. He didn't relent. He howled, brought his claymore forward, and slashed at Yugi. The blow sliced his sweater off and left a scar on his back. Yugi cried in agony, but he spun and kicked, trying to knock the sword away from the mad berserker. It didn't work.

"Ryou, we're running," Yugi said forcefully, turning to his friend, "Grab Sith. And let's run fast." Ryou didn't object. He scooped Sith up in one arm, and the two dashed just as Saix sliced one of the boulders behind them in two. They heard the large stone crumble, and Yugi suppressed a shiver. Damn it, they were going to die.

Not wanting to lure Rath back to the past Aeroglyph, Ryou and Yugi made their way south, weaving between the rocky outcrops. They'd hoped to slow Saix down, but the lunatic demolished everything in his way, his snarls becoming far more feral than either boy remembered. They continued running, weaving, praying the rocks could hold up. Not one did.

The end of the valley was coming, sloping up and leveling into flat grassland. Ryou knew that if they didn't stop Saix soon, nothing would keep him from hitting them on the plains. They had to try something, or at the very least, _hide_. But the flatlands were too close, and the cliff walls were no longer so high. Niches were hard to spot, especially ones big enough to hide three bodies. He stopped, but couldn't stop forever. Frantic, he looked everywhere, for anything to help them. The only things they had were their items, and Sith. Not good odds, when dealing with a snarling, homicidal maniac.

"Ryou," Yugi whispered, when they heard Saix slamming into a wall, uncomfortably close. Ryou glanced down; Yugi was looking dead ahead, "I have an idea."

"Will it save Sith's life?" Ryou found himself asking. He never thought Yugi could pick the lesser of two evil choices. But Yugi had been forced, making a decision Ryou had tried to avoid. Yugi shook his head solemnly.

"No," was the simple reply, "But it might save ours." Then, Yugi smacked Ryou's hands, and Sith's body fell onto the ground. Before Ryou could react, Yugi grabbed him and hid behind a large rock. Then, he bound Ryou with a paralyzing blast from his puzzle. Ryou wouldn't be helping Sith this time around.

Saix had run far ahead of Rath. He knew his master wasn't present, and he slowed, realizing his enemies weren't, either. Then, he saw the body lying on the ground. His eyes flashed, and he charged to it. Only to stop again. The body… it was _alive_, but only almost. He heard breathing. But there was no heartbeat, and the scent was almost dead. Tilting his head, he growled and bent down to examine it again. It was definitely a woman, that much he knew. And her scent… it smelled familiar, but Saix couldn't place it. Yet smelling it made his berserk lunacy ebb away. Replacing it was… confusion. Was this woman dead, or wasn't she?

Saix's eyes narrowed as they slowly went from yellow, back to their normal dark golden, the pupils returning. Ryou and Yugi watched, waiting. Saix's lips thinned as he knelt, brushed aside Sith's hair, looked at her eyes. Glassy, haunted. He remembered that look, vaguely. It felt like it was in a distant memory, one that both happened and never happened. He found himself frowning. Why did that look make him hesitate so much?

"Think he remembers her?" Ryou whispered, as they peeked around the rock. Yugi didn't look. He was focusing entirely on staying alive and staunching the bloody wound on his back.

"Hard to say, but he's not snarling, so that's a start," Yugi replied, tying shreds of his tattered sweater around the wound. Ryou took a deep breath, continuing to look at the Nobody. His claymore disappeared entirely by then, and he simply stayed there, looking down at Sith. He wasn't going to attack. At least, not yet.

"Using Sith to slow him down?" Ryou said after a moment, glancing back at his friend, "Risky. How'd you know it'd work?" Yugi didn't look up.

"Saix's bond with her is more powerful than anyone wants to admit. Even both of them. They don't think it's true. They think they're both insane," Yugi explained calmly, tying the end of the threads, "But it's still there. Xemnas said he never forgot Sith after we left the past. That only strengthened it." Ryou hummed. He'd forgotten that detail. But how did Rath figure sending Saix after them would do the trick?

"I didn't think Nobodies could fall in love," Ryou murmured absently, and turned to join Yugi. He sat down, "I didn't think they could feel. Sith said they had no hearts."

"They don't, but they have memories," Yugi reminded him seriously, and finally looked up. His eyes looked deeper, like Yami's had been, "When Saix possessed himself to talk with Sith, he must've imbued his own memories of her into himself. The past Saix probably had no idea what they were, but he did make the connection. Depending on what Saix gave himself, probably concluded to why he didn't forget her. He didn't want to." Ryou nodded. Maybe that would be the key to Rath's death. He glanced over his shoulder, toward where the Nobody in question stood.

Saix's mind kept swimming as memories kept flooding through him. Memories that he knew happened, yet for some reason were more dream-like than anything. Memories of the moments he spent glancing out his window, wondering if he'd see that mysterious maiden he'd met that he somehow knew without knowing. Memories of sitting with Sith in Kaiba Corp, relaying Xemnas's messages and information to her. Memories of bantering with her on those same nights, laughing as though they were better friends than they were. Memories of confusion when he returned to the Organization, anger when he tried and failed to protect her from Xaldin's wrath. Pain, agony, despair… and then there were other feelings, too. Warmth and… love. Love? He never thought he'd feel that. But there were memories that suggested he had, and recently.

Blinking slowly, Saix said, "Where have you been, Sith? How long were you traveling through time? Years? Hours? Seconds?" His voice sounded softer than Ryou remembered; he was obviously very troubled, "My memories of you are so scrambled, yet I remember everything."

"…you never did forget me…" Sith said quietly, looking up at him, "Even when I asked… why couldn't you?"

"Because something inside of me told me not to," he told her gently, lifting her shoulders up slowly. He had to be careful; she took a lot of blows. He continued, "We Nobodies cling to the memories we have left. I put all of my memories into myself so that I would never forget. I could not let myself forget."

"…idiot," Sith whispered, smiling. Saix grinned. Yes, perhaps he was one. But he didn't mind it. Not when he knew what he would gain from it.

But happy times couldn't last, not in the battlefield. Saix heard something, high-pitched as to be inaudible to Ryou or Yugi. But he heard it, and he knew Sith heard it, as well. Something was coming – not Rath, perhaps, but at least one of Sith's former guardians. He looked down, still supporting Sith. How much more could she take before she was slain? Could he protect her?

"Are you ready for one last fight?" he asked her. She took his hand, shakily stood up alongside him. She wasn't strong anymore. Her strength was fading fast. But she was ready. Ready to win, or ready to die. She had Saix with her, and that was enough.

"One last one," she agreed, looking up at him, "After this, the legend of Sith Winchester can fade and pass away. I won't need it any longer." Saix nodded. After her legacy was fulfilled, she would be just another woman. An Esper, to be sure, but a woman. No longer the Exiled Queen, the One who Did It, the Fallen Myth, or any of the names she'd picked up in her years. Just Sith. _His_ Sith.

Ryou and Yugi finally came out of hiding, in time for Sith and Saix to see them. Sith was shocked to find them there; Saix was more or less amused. He also remembered battling them. He was completely baffled that they managed to outrun him. Likewise, they were relieved to see he was no longer the berserk lunatic he lived up to be. Glancing at them both, Yugi said, "So this is it, eh?"

"You have room for two more?" Ryou asked, but Sith was firm. She shook her head. Yugi went to protest, but Sith stopped him with a raised hand. Yugi's mouth closed, and he looked steadily down.

"You both will be going home," Sith told them, and did not allow either to interrupt, "This battle is no longer yours to fight. Rath, I believe, has released the souls she trapped in Oblivion. You should think about returning and finding your friends."

"But Sith!" Ryou exclaimed in disbelief, "I'm your guardian! I can't leave you!" Not to mention Yugi and Yami would probably find a way back, anyway. But Sith was adamant. Her mind would never budge.

"As my guardian, you follow my orders first," she reminded him calmly, gently, "I order you to return to your world, to your time. Your life should be yours to govern, Ryou. It should never have been a tool in this war." Ryou didn't care. Sith was his friend, and he wanted to help her.

When he tried to protest again, however, Saix intervened. Sith allowed some room for opinions on some occasions. Saix, however, was not as benevolent. Nor did he care what Ryou wanted or thought of him. To him, he was already Sith's husband and his word took precedence over anything a _child_ felt was important. Sternly, Saix said, "Do it or I'll force you back." His eyes glinted to get his point across. Ryou shivered. A berserk Saix would likely send them both back in body bags.

Thankfully, Yugi was smarter than Ryou. He nodded, backed down without a fight and said, "Open a portal. We'll go home." Ryou spun and glared. That was it. That was how this ended. Yugi was just _giving in._

"Yugi!" Ryou yelled. Yugi's own glare was far worse. For once, Ryou actually feared him.

"Ryou, we're going home," Yugi said slowly, his fury clear in his voice, "We've done enough, to and for Sith. Now we step back and let her take care of the rest." Ryou looked at all three of them in succession. He had no choice but to concede. He looked away.

"What about the third sword?" he asked Sith, and she tilted her head, "The one your brother supposedly had? We never did find it." Sith's mouth twitched. That wasn't true at all. They had found it. _She_ had found it. She had hidden it in a secure place, one Rath would never look for. One that she could access with three words. She looked up at Saix.

"Saix," she said, and he looked down, "Summon Denschweiger." His brow arched. Ryou's eyes popped. Yugi just laughed. Sith's look suggested she knew far more than she'd tell them. Saix almost laughed himself. He had no choice but to do as she said. Sighing, he called the name. Surely enough, the greatsword replaced Lunatic – they were roughly the same size, though Denschweiger's blade was green, the hilt bronze. But it was the third sword. And when Sith raised her arm, she caught Zealacht, which had flown right back from whence it came.

That still left Zerrkandr. Ryou looked at her and asked, "What about the second sword?"

"_We_ wield that one!" Ryou spun again and came face to face with Victor. Artemis was right behind him, Zerrkandr in hand. Ryou nearly fell. How had they come there? More importantly, _when_ had they come? Grinning, Victor looked at Sith and Saix and said, "Hi, mom. Hi, dad. Miss us?"

"You're both all right," Sith commented gently, tears in her eyes. Saix, in contrast, grinned and said, "Looks like you found a new toy. Are you whelps going to learn to cut your own arms off?" Victor looked away guiltily, but Artemis – so much like his father – just gave a smug smirk, twirling Zerrkandr with no effort.

"I was thinking of cutting off Rath's head, but cutting off my own arms would be pretty amusing," he stated, and his eyes narrowed, "Ready to fight, you old bastard?"

"Keep that attitude up, whelp, and I'll piss on your grave before this is over," Saix replied easily. Then he saw Sith glaring at him. And he roared with laughter. That look would always amuse him. Mainly because Sith thought she could actually stop him in any way. Sith was so cute, sometimes.

"Saix, if you don't stop that, I'll _destroy_ your grave when this is over," she threatened. Oddly enough, her threats never worked on her own family. Both of her sons, and Saix, just looked at her with odd mixtures of expressions. Then, Saix roared with laughter again. This time, he had to wipe a tear away.

"Sith, you're the one most likely to die from this," he reminded her. Behind them both, Victor smiled and said, "Exactly! Let us _men_ protect you, mother." Sith's narrowing eyes told them all, however, that she didn't exactly trust them to protect her – after all, she'd done pretty well for the past four thousand years on her own. But she understood the sentiment. Especially since she doubted Saix would let her argue.

"All right, all right. I have three capable men in my family, I get it," she simply said with a shrug, turning back to Ryou and Yugi, "I feel I'm prepared. Is there anything you want to add before we send you home?"

"Sith, please don't do this," Ryou practically begged, his voice barely above a whisper, "Let us stay!" He could feel Yugi's gaze on his back, and shivered. He knew he was being selfish. He knew he should let Sith go and let fate play itself out. But he didn't want to. Not just yet. He wanted to know she'd win.

Sith wouldn't allow his request. She shook her head and told him, "If you stay here, you will witness events you aren't meant to see. Ryou, that will ultimately destroy you. Do you understand? This time is before Bakura and Yami, who are both your ancestors. If you were to see me change history, it would affect your entire lineages. It may even do far worse." Ryou wasn't sure what to say. He barely knew most of his family. But Bakura deserved the chance to live his life. So did Yami. So did the others.

Understanding Ryou's sadness, Yugi said, "Ryou, think about how much magic dripped into our world. Think about what it's done. Our world is so unstable. Shouldn't we let Sith fix it?"

"Yes," was the reluctant reply. Ryou let out a sigh, clenching his fists. He was willing to let her leave with Aeon, but that had been when she promised to see him again, when she thought she could continue on parallel to the time-space continuum. But now she was going to change history. She wouldn't come back. He wouldn't know her – and she would have to forget him. Eyes watering, he said, "Sith, I don't want to forget everything you've done. You've saved us. You're Domino's hero."

"I am no one's hero. I am just Sith," she said sternly. Ryou looked down at her, realizing that what she was saying was more important than he wanted to hear, "I'm a person, as are you. Ryou, are you afraid to forget me because we're friends? Or are you afraid because you think I don't feel appreciated by your world?" She saw right through and read his thoughts. He wasn't sure which one was dominant; Sith deserved more than anyone ever really gave her. But in the end, it was his world that he felt should remember her. He would never forget the companionship that had formed. Not truly.

"Everyone blamed you for so long. Now that you're going to win, no one will even remember," he said to her sadly. But Sith smiled. It was a knowing look.

"That isn't true. Ryou, I can finally heal the wounds that were inflicted on my family, my kingdom, and my kind," she replied, and her body relaxed, "I can finally stop the blood feud that ripped Oblivion apart and nearly destroyed the universe. You may never see me again, but don't you think everyone deserves to live without Rath's tyranny?"

"Yes," Ryou answered honestly, "Yes, we all do." Now he understood her point. People would no longer see her as the reason the Mystics exist. They would see that she put Rath down without unleashing the horrid powers that had been sealed within the orbs, and within Nesce's heart.

"Then do what's right, Ryou," Victor said to him, and Ryou looked over, "Remember what your father said, right? It'll help you build some character. Do it for your dad." He winced when Saix snorted and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Take your own advice sometimes," the older man said slyly, "From what I understand, not only did you _steal_, but you also _shattered_ half of your own reality. Do you have _any_ idea how long you'd be grounded if you were my son _right now?_" Victor's ears drooped. He knew exactly: at least one hundred years. He had a feeling his father would exact the same punishment no matter what time he happened to be in. Maybe he wasn't the best role model for Ryou.

Although she was glad the others were taking this as well as they could, Sith wasn't about to let the team lose track of the problems at hand. "Can we settle this later?" she asked, and both Saix and Victor looked down at her. She wasn't amused with their shenanigans. Not this time. "Saix, we have to open the portal for them." Saix's face blanched. He forgot they both were the only ones that could, now. The other Nobodies were still out of commission. Nervously, he cleared his throat.

"I suppose that's best," he said. Sith didn't miss the hesitation in him. She eyed him suspiciously. Then she understood. He might not have that ability if Rath released him from Oblivion. Sith just didn't know which of the two would have drained his power: Oblivion was likely. Rath was definite.

"You _can_ still do it, can't you?" Sith asked him. Saix inwardly cursed. For once, he was an open book for her. His guilty expression answered her question. And she wasn't happy. Tiredly, she said, "Artemis, tell me you or Victor can open the portal."

"I can do it, mother," Artemis told her firmly, and Sith found herself smiling in relief, "I inherited most of my power from father. I can use the darkness just like he can." Sith was glad for that, too. Though, she wondered how much training it'd take to help him control it, if and when he was truly born.

Artemis and Sith stood together at just about where she'd faced off against Aeon, Matt, and Mello. Saix had dragged the unconscious men away, and Yugi helped draw the symbols needed for Sith to begin the portal. With only so much darkness inside of Artemis, magic was the key to opening the door. But Sith's magic was still waning. When the symbols were drawn in a small double-circle, Sith closed her eyes and began speaking in Esper. Beside her, Artemis watched as a swift wind picked up. The roots and dead trees creaked as the breeze hit them; as it passed, the symbols began to glow. First purple, and then red, and finally bright blue. Then, they settled, and the dust swirled until it too turned purple. As it took shape, Ryou noticed the faint outlines of a door – he'd seen that door before, but couldn't remember where or how. When the wind began to die, Artemis took Sith's place and began speaking in a language Ryou had never heard; he guessed it was a language used within the realm of darkness.

Clouds of black began to form, mixing in the purple dust and giving the door a more solid texture. Now Ryou recognized the doorway he was looking at. It was the same one that had locked up the past, when Sith should have been with Yami and Bakura. He shivered. Those doorways led to other dimensions and times. And they rarely sent you back wherever you came from. The reality of the situation was more definite than Ryou had hoped.

When it was said and done, and the doorway was complete, Sith looked at Ryou and Yugi and said, "It's time to go now." Her voice was amazingly gentle. She knew this was hard on all of them. Yugi was the first to say his goodbye.

"You've been a good friend. One of the best," he said, hugging her tightly. Sith nodded, letting a sniffle escape her. Yugi was almost like an adopted younger brother to her. She had hoped to at least see him married. To Saix, he looked up and said, "Take good care of her, Saix." The older man nodded.

Then, it was Ryou's turn. He walked up to her, and they stared for a minute. Slowly, he said, "I almost can't believe it's happening this time. You're finally leaving us."

"We knew it would happen. It was just a matter of when," she reminded him kindly, and put her hands on his shoulders, "Take heart, Ryou. You've done everything you could." Had he? He wasn't sure.

"I'm sorry for everything I've put you through," he replied softly, "My stupidity never tapered off like I wanted." Sith chuckled.

"We are all young and foolish at some point," she said simply, "You simply took time. But now it's time to fly on your own wings, Ryou. Now you need to do it without my help." Ryou agreed. Maybe he'd succeed. Maybe he wouldn't. But it was time to let Sith go. She had two other children she would be raising as her own in the future. He looked at the two in question.

"You both have an amazing mother," he said to them, "Don't let her die."

"Like father would allow that," Artemis commented with a roll of the eyes. Victor smiled and said, "Mom's in good hands now. Good luck in your own time, Ryou. Sorry for screwing it over the way I did." Ryou saluted. Victor hadn't actually done any damage, save for causing one hell of a mess when Kaiba found out.

"Domino Campus won't be the same without you," Ryou told him. Victor gave the thumbs up. He already knew that. He was willing to let the assholes at school deal with it.

He and Yugi walked to the portal, but before they jumped in, they took one last look at Sith. She was as they'd remember her; courageous and stoic, grim and aloof, alert and yet somehow relaxed in her own skill. Forgetting her would be hard for their hearts. But they'd deal with it when their memories faded. Quietly, they both said, "Goodbye, Sith." Then, they disappeared through the darkness. They would never return, not to Sith.

Sith waited several long moments, watching the doorway until it faded. Her heart felt heavy, but her mind felt empty at the moment. She'd felt so much loss that it sometimes numbed her to let herself feel that sort of pain. She'd learned to push it aside. But as her lids lowered, and she looked down at where the last remnants of the portal faded, she felt like her heart could empty itself and still never be repaired. She sighed. This was just two more men added to her tally. But they were men she treasured as family.

Behind her, Saix placed his hand on her back and said, "And so the final chapter begins." She nodded. The legend placed upon her was at its close. In only a few hours, Oblivion would see its victor. Aeroglyph would have its queen. Sith would know if she was worthy, or simply a false hope.

"I never thought I'd truly come this far," she commented, as her sons came to join them, "With Ryou, I never felt I could have made it. I felt chained because he was so young. Young and yet at the age of manhood."

"You did well by him, Sith. You trained him the way he needed to be trained," Saix reminded her, as they both stared, though by now it was nothing more than empty air, "It's just too bad you can't see that training pay off." Sith hummed. That wasn't true. She'd make just one last stop before she was done. She always did. She always would.

That would come in time. But there was still work to be done. The three swords were gathered. The battlefield was set. All moves had been made. Now it was Fate's turn to give them her final bitter judgment. And, as Fate promised to all her children, her judgment would come swiftly.

Dark fog rolled into the valley as that high-pitched screech sounded again. This time, all four of them heard it. All four of them froze, waiting. Then, in an eruption of dirt and fire, Rath reappeared. Yet she was no longer mortal, no longer _Mystic_. The upper half of her body was intact, but the lower half was merged with a demonic creature Sith couldn't identify. Where her thighs should have been, there was the head of a draconic creature; it sported no eyes, but the maw of the beast was flooded with hundreds of lethal fangs. Its body was scaled, and ended in not four feet, but eight. Eight sharp talons that would spell death for any creature in her path.

Rath looked down at them, her mouth curling up in a half-snarl, half-grin. She wasn't sure if she should be laughing, or trying to devour them. It would be so easy, and it would end the one spark she'd been trying to extinguish for the past five millennia. She looked down at the dragon head. Those fangs would ensure that Sith would not live. She could spare Saix – he would be broken enough just watching Sith's body being mashed in those fangs. But Sith… finally, the seal on her power was broken. Sith would finally learn why she was named the successor to the throne first.

As for Sith, she had no idea what to say or think. Rath was nothing more than an abomination now. Her humanity was gone – assuming it had existed at all. All she had left was that drive, that need to destroy everything until only she was left. No thoughts, no reasoning. Just an animal instinct and the memory of wanting to shed Sith's blood. How far would it extend? What would Rath do when she was dead? Saix wasn't safe. Artemis and Victor would die as soon as Sith was gone. What of her guardians? Rath wouldn't stop at her death. Rath would continue until everything was gone.

The dragon's mouth opened. A roar unlike any that had ever been heard issued out. Mountains crumbled and trees split, wilted, and rotted. The air itself was torn apart. Sith, Artemis, and Victor winced, covered their ears. Their minds screamed in protest at the verbal assault. Then, something happened. Sith wasn't sure how, or why, or when, but all of the sudden, her sons were no longer there. Though the roar continued on, Sith uncovered her ears. She was too shell-shocked to notice the pain.

"Artemis!" she called, breathless, "Victor! Where are you!" Saix barely heard her, and looked back. His eyes widened. He had seen them with Sith just seconds ago.

He knew the culprit. He looked up at the abomination that should have been Rath and demanded, "What have you done with my sons!"

"Sons that do not exist yet," Rath reminded them. But her voice was deeper, gravelly. It was unlike her so much. Sith remembered the tone. It was far more demonic than even her father's when he lost his temper, "But what is existence? What is time? You both no longer know, as you've been removed. And now, your sons have been removed as well."

"Give my children back to me," Sith growled furiously. Rath snorted, looking down at her. There was more than one reason for Sith to want that. Not only was she not going to have children, but there was no soul to wield Zerrkandr. Not any longer.

"You will see them when I send you to Hell," Rath promised her, "As well as your father and your uncle. Ah, I miss those fools. Spent too much time grooming the wrong successor." Perhaps they had, but Sith knew Rath could not succeed regardless.

"If I go to hell, the only way I will is if I drag you with me," Sith promised her, "You've done enough. I should never have split you apart. I know my mistake. Rest assured it won't be made again."

"You won't stop it. When I eliminate you, I will force your past to endure the same battle that created me. The cycle will repeat until I end your life," Rath replied simply. Sith stiffened. She was in unending purgatory. Unless a third soul strong enough to wield Zerrkandr appeared, the prophecy placed on her family would continue endlessly. Her peace would never be found.

Saix knew better. He smirked and said, "It's not happening. The three souls are gathered before your eyes, Rath." Sith glanced at Saix. That wasn't true. It couldn't have been. But when she saw his eyes, he wasn't looking at Rath. He was looking toward the north, toward Aeroglyph. Rath took no notice, save for the man's words.

"I see only two souls, one of which doesn't exist," Rath commented plainly. Originally, the rights belonged to Sith, Sceppiro, and to Katt. But Katt renounced her sword for freedom, and Rath made sure to imprison Sceppiro in Oblivion. Sith should have been the only soul left.

And so Sith was the only one left. But fracturing time had its consequences, consequences Rath had not foreseen until now. Until she saw another woman walking up the southern passage through the valley. She hadn't been the only one to see Sith's fate, to mess with the fabric of time. Ryou Bakura and Victor Winchester had done so, as well. They simply went the opposite way. But now, as the woman made her way to the battlefield, Rath understood she had been blind to that one incident. She had waved it away, because too much had happened to render the future as truth.

That truth was about to destroy Rath. "You are wrong, bitch-goddess of Oblivion," the woman said, "Two souls to wield the Swords are here." Sith looked at the woman. No… Sith looked directly at herself. Yet it was not her at the same time. This woman was older now, weakened due to the Apocalypse and from age. But there was no mistake Sith was looking at herself. Same coat, same armor. Worn, but exactly the same. The elder Sith looked back and said, "We're doing well. Keep it up."

"You are me," Sith whispered. The elder nodded.

A voice behind Rath said, "I am you, as well." Everyone turned again. Another Sith stood there, yet this time she was younger. Adolescent, younger, and without the coat. But it was Sith, in her younger years. Before she took up the mantle and ruled Nesce herself. Before she had learned to control her power as Prince of Nesce. The youngest Sith said, "Three souls to wield the Swords are here. Enemy of Nesce, you will die in the fields of blood."

"Three souls, one person," Saix mused, smiling oddly, "Three souls of the only person who can kill Rath." Rath's wicked gleam turned to horror. That was impossible! She had been sure to shatter time so completely, only one soul would be present. And that soul should have been shattered, as well. No… her mistake had been believing Ryou Bakura had been the glue for that soul. And when she found it had been Saix, not enough had been done to destroy him. Sith had broken his hold with Rath too easily.

"There is a reason time-travel is abolished in the mortal races," the elder Sith said, taking Denschweiger from Saix, "Too much mess. Too many threads to burn up. Too many bad things will happen, to the worlds that had been meddled with, and to the idiot who caused it at all." Saix grinned. Sith only became sharper with age. He approved.

"Ryou Bakura brought you here, not I!" Rath screamed. The elder Sith smirked.

"You opened the door by delving into Oblivion and using it to take _her_ down," the older Esper said, pointing to the youngest Sith, "Isn't it beautiful when your plans blow up in your face? Imagine my surprise when I suddenly found heart enough to leave my husband and children to kill you."

"Imagine mine when Faleen told me about a skirmish in the valley," the younger Sith added, "One unlike any I'd see, she said. She was right." The present Sith chuckled. Faleen knew. Faleen knew, because Falnika intervened. Sith knew this.

"And so the three are gathered. Three, yet the same person," Sith said calmly, throwing Zerrkandr to her younger self, "This time, you won't survive. This time, you won't be split apart. This time, you will be purged from the life blood of the Espers." Rath suddenly found herself facing the same expression she had seen before, when Sith had mortally wounded her the first time. Except that it was on _three_ of Sith, two of which knew the mistake they made, one of which would follow the others' leads.

Rath knew when she was screwed. Rath knew she had made the biggest mistakes after she had lost the last of her Mystic lords. Losing Katsaiga had caused her to begin underestimating Sith's recovery and the strength in the humans she was living with. Losing Falnika had caused her to act too quickly in trying to destroy Sith. Now, the full consequences of messing through time was going to hit her, and hit her hard. This was why the ability to distort time was off-limits to Espers. Sith had been smart to enlist Aeon's help.

Rath wasn't going to hold back. The dragon's mouth opened again, firing a blast of light at each version of Sith. All three leapt away in time. The eldest swung low, deflecting her blow and using it to dissolve the adjoining one as the youngest Sith rolled, coming up behind Rath. The present Sith used the energy of the blast to propel herself, and she landed on top of the dragon's head. Without any eyes to see her, the head thrashed. But Sith was nimble. Her sword slipped through the scales and she slashed upwards, tearing a gash in its skull. Blood splashed out, and Rath yelled furiously, throwing Sith off. Saix caught her before she crashed into the ground.

Unfortunately, pain wasn't the only reason Rath's voice was tearing through the sky. Saix shakily brought Sith up, and all three of her looked upon the monster that had once been their cousin. Saix knew by the expressions of terror that whatever had happened was a turn for the worst. He felt Sith grab his arm, and he looked up. The sky had darkened, nearly black save for a blazing orange rip in the center. That rip, he could feel, was letting remnants from the abyss flow in, devouring pieces of the land where those particles landed. Rath was using a suicide tactic, knowing Sith was going to best her again.

Saix refused to let that happen. Not when they were this close. He let go of Sith, and took out Lunatic. Sith, _his_ Sith, stared at him. All he could do was grin. He was going to make sure she had a chance in Hell at beating her own legend. He could very well die for the idiocy he was about to accomplish. But as he looked right into Sith's frightened face, he found it all worth it. Before he left, he said to her, "If I happen to survive, I want another kiss." Then, he was gone before she knew it.

When the dragon roared was when Sith was shocked out of the horror of seeing Saix dive headlong toward Rath. The hit connected, and Rath was sent through the rip. Saix had done it. He sent her back into Oblivion. The only problem was, Saix was stuck in there now, too. Rath still could kill him, and could kill Sith through him. Taking a breath, she looked at her counterparts. Both of them seemed to understand what needed to happen, as well.

"Well, I might as well join him. I've spent over a thousand years with him," the eldest Sith reason. The younger one grinned and said, "He's the only man who's caught my attention. I don't want to see father's reaction when they meet." Sith didn't have the heart to tell her their father was long dead in the future.

Taking Zealacht, as the other two grabbed their respective swords, Sith looked up into the tear and said, "Now our journey ends. My only regret is not saying goodbye to Mello. He deserved far better than that." The eldest Sith seemed to agree with that.

But the time for those regrets was gone. There was no time left. Sith, all three of them, leapt right into the tear. It would be the last time anyone heard of Sith Winchester. It would be the beginning of her own freedom.

-(End Chapter)

In one last hurtle, Ryou and Yugi are desperate to bring Saix back to his senses. When he stumbles on Sith's near-death form, Saix breaks free of the chain Rath tried to put on him. But when Rath tries one last attempt to destroy the one world she could never have, Saix sacrifices himself not only to save Oblivion, but to save Sith as well. Sith must now travel through Oblivion and end her cousin's madness once and for all, as Ryou and Yugi wander the streets of a Domino they no longer know. Who will be Oblivion's victor? How have the worlds changed with Sith removed from time? And, can Ryou forget his closest companion forever? Find out next chapter, so click that Review button!


	27. Alternate Reality

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, Kingdom Hearts, or Death Note. Takahashi owns Yu-gi-oh, Square-Enix owns Kingdom Hearts, and Ohba owns Death Note. The good news is, I'm the benefactor that's going to help fund their collaboration efforts.

The world wasn't as Ryou remembered it any longer. At first, he had woken up in a strange city, not Domino like he expected it to be. It was a hilly city, more a town than anything remotely like Domino should be. There were no concrete roads; just dirt paths and a few cobbled streets where there was the most activity. A creek ran right through the center of the town, and the buildings were made of stone, the roofs thatched straw. They landed in a farming town, it looked like. But was that what had happened to their city, with Sith no longer involved? No. It couldn't have been. The change was just too dramatic.

Yugi's mind was thankfully less shell-shocked than Ryou's. He figured out first that where they ended up was back in Algon, some ten miles from Domino. Except that it should have been a pile of smoldering ruins – he remembered that after Rath's first induction to laying siege on the world, Sith said Algon had been attacked first. That had been when Sith had been hiding there. Now that she was nothing more than a phantom, the town was as it should have been. It was peaceful.

"Why did we end up here?" Ryou asked, as they stood on a larger hill overlooking the point where the creek dumped into Domino Bay. He knew the spot; it had been where Sith and Katt switched Sith's identity out eight years ago. It had been where he made that critical adjustment to reveal the dead woman's body, forcing Sith into prison before Rath could ever find her.

"Maybe Domino doesn't exist anymore," Yugi said quietly. Ryou stared down at him. That wasn't a likely possibility. Domino should have withstood the temporal adjustments, even if history hadn't.

Luckily, the answers they needed came from a new voice, one they didn't recognize, "Domino City exists. It's ten miles due northwest of here." Ryou turned around. He came face to face with a young woman – _the_ young woman that had been inadvertently killed, mistaken for Sith by a foolhardy Mystic. Alive, she really didn't look that much like Sith at all. She had the black hair, but it was shorter, and the woman was a little bit taller. But her face wasn't the same. It looked softer.

"Sami…" he whispered. The woman tilted her head, eyed him for a minute. He realized she had heard him.

"How'd you know my name?" she asked him curiously, and smiled, "I don't think I've met you before. Did you come with a message for me?" Ryou blinked, glanced at Yugi. The younger boy just stared as if to say 'good going, idiot.' Ryou blushed in embarrassment. He was never going to be good with women, no matter what the encounter was supposed to be.

"No, no. We're on our way home," he said, thinking quickly, "Someone was talking about you, though. Just making a connection." God, that lie sounded hollow even to him. But Sami seemed none the wiser. She stared a minute longer, not quite sure if she should believe him. But she shrugged it off. It was a small town. Everyone knew everyone, whether they wanted to or not.

"Small town. I guess someone heard I had to fight off a pack of imps in Southencamp," she said, turning toward the dirt path leading down toward the center of the town, "I'd better go and make sure they're not spreading lies about it. If my mother thinks I've battled anything stronger, she'll go insane." Ryou and Yugi watched her go, still talking to herself. Battling imps? As far as they knew, no one in Domino ever purposely went hunting for monsters. Maybe there were more similarities between the two women. Maybe that was why Katt's attempt had been so successful the first time.

"Imp hunting?" Yugi snorted, looking at Ryou, "Sound familiar?"

"Sith would've gone after something bigger," Ryou said quickly. Then, both of them laughed. Not only would she go after something bigger, she'd never stop chasing it until she managed to catch it. And if she couldn't, she'd ally herself with someone who could. The thought of seeing Sith slaying something as weak as an imp was just funny… until the memory sank in, and Ryou realized he wouldn't see it again.

Sighing, he shook his head and said, "Damn it, I'm going to miss her, Yugi…" Yugi looked down somberly. He would, too. And if anyone else could remember her, they'd feel the same loss. How much of it was for the better, he wondered.

"We'll move on," Yugi finally said after a moment of thought. At first, he was unsure of that, but when he spoke, he felt confidence in his words, and he continued, "We'll be fine. There's still magic in this world, Ryou. It's just not unbalanced anymore." Ryou nodded. Hearing Sami speak of imps told him it was true. At the very least, it'd take time for magic to fade. Victor had said as much.

The quickest way to move on was to see what became of Domino, to know they still had a home to go to. Algon was a blur to Ryou – Sith had said it was just a headache for her, and he didn't want to remember the town. But Yugi had taken notice of the layout the few times he had been there, and it was he who led the two down the dirt road, toward the outskirts of the town. Houses were already few, even in the densest part of the town, but those few houses gave way to farmland that stretched for some time. As they walked, Ryou quietly asked, "Do you really believe everyone else would forget her so soon?" Yugi hummed, looking up at the dusk sky. The sun was setting, casting the sky in a hazy lavender.

"I don't know. The people who didn't know her well? They've probably forgotten who she is and what she's done," Yugi said to him thoughtfully, "The people of Duran, the people of Algon. Even most of the population in Domino might not know her anymore."

"What about our friends?"

"I… don't know," Yugi admitted sadly, looking away, "I mean, we remember her. There might come a time where we won't, but it might depend on her bond with all of us. Those with a strong bond won't forget." Ryou knew that extended toward Malik. Katt's bond reinforced it. But what could be said of the others? They had been loyal to her, but most of his friends didn't truly know or understand Sith as well as they thought.

"So people like my father, and Isis, and even Miho. They won't remember," Ryou stated. Yugi took a breath, and nodded. It was that simple. And it would be that painful when they came to it. For now, they had some time to let it sink in. But Domino was only ten miles away. Even on foot, they'd be there the next day.

Yugi's plan, however, was to travel to Domino on horseback. That was Algon's main mode of transportation, and when he had come through with Sith one summer, she taught him how to ride. He felt the sooner they went home, the better the adjustment would be. When they came to the stable and Ryou suddenly found himself shelling out fifty dollars for a bay horse, he decided not to object. They rode off without a farewell to the town behind them.

Domino came into view less than two hours later. The dirt path quickly gave way to a paved street as they headed to the suburban section of the city first. They slowed their horses, and Ryou looked around. Domino City had changed, as well. It wasn't as clogged with buildings. There was more greenery. The roads were smaller. He glanced at Yugi. The boy seemed just as surprised as he was. How had magic truly contributed to even more pollution? Why had taking it away changed the city?

"It feels so different," Ryou commented, as their horses slowed to a near crawl, "Without the corruption, the city seems more in tune with the environment around it. Was that what Sith meant? Was magic truly corrupting our world?"

"Too much magic in an unstable world," Yugi said, repeating something Sith had said similarly, "When Nesce became unstable, all of the magic pouring out of its heart became twisted, and started corrupting the entire kingdom. Our world would've gone there if Sith hadn't made such a campaign against Rath. But even with her efforts…"

"She couldn't stop the overwhelming flow," Ryou concluded. Yugi nodded. They came to a stop when they reached Ryou's house. It looked, for all intense and purpose, exactly the same. Ryou dismounted, and saw that Kaiba's vehicle was in the driveway, alongside Yaten's old car. He swallowed and said, "We might have trouble."

"What the hell could Kaiba want with you?" Yugi asked hotly, landing next to Ryou. He tethered both horses to the tree, and they walked up onto the porch. Ryou opened the door; it was unlocked. His first move was to go toward the living room. He saw that Kaiba, Ryuuzaki, and Malik were sitting within. Aeon, Mello, Basch, and Matt were with them. All of them were Sith's guardians. The only one missing was Saix. Bakura was probably upstairs.

"That'd better be you, Ryou," Malik called sternly. Ryou stopped in his tracks. That didn't sound good. What had he done? Had they found out he tampered with Sith's memories?

Quietly, he walked into the living room. Malik motioned for him to sit. He and Yugi took a small couch near the back. Yet no one spoke right away. Ryou waited patiently, but he sensed the hesitation. What had happened? Something must've gone wrong for all of the guardians to be in one place. Nervously, he asked, "Did we do something?" Malik shook his head.

"Not you," the older man said grimly, "We all just came from Anzu's house. We figured you might want to know before you go visiting anyone else." Ryou's eyes hardened. He wished they'd come right out and say what was wrong.

"Is anyone hurt?" he asked. Malik shook his head again.

"Ryou, no one remembers Sith," he said solemnly, "No one but the seven of us, and the three spirits." Ryou, for a reason Malik couldn't understand, seemed relieved. He wasn't surprised by that result. Malik wasn't the only one who noticed, either. Kaiba and Ryuuzaki stared at him critically, the former almost angrily. Oddly enough, the remaining four made no acknowledgement whatsoever.

"Why are you so damn happy about that?" Kaiba demanded. His accusatory tone surprised Ryou. He hadn't thought Kaiba had liked Sith enough to feel pained by her disappearance. There was more to the man than he realized.

"Then what Rath did was true. She really did sever Sith's threads to our world," Ryou told him, told all of them. Ryuuzaki, Malik, and Kaiba were definitively the most affected by those words. Ryou said, "Sith warned me that, before we left, no one would know who she was." Kaiba was shivering. To him, what they'd come from was just terrifying. Sith, despite her opposition with him, had been an integral part of their lives for years now. He couldn't understand how almost everyone she once knew, no longer seemed to know her.

"We're exceptions because we're all her guardians," Mello said to them, and he found everyone's eyes were upon him now, "We've taken oaths to protect her because she's our queen. But no one else took such a vow."

"She won't be a queen much longer," Aeon stated, and Mello looked at him incredulously. Aeon's eyes were closed, deep in thought. He opened them, looked right back at the pale, blonde man next to him, "In one way, Rath achieved one goal. To remove Sith from the throne. Sith cannot rule, because she no longer exists in the contexts of time. Therefore, we may not be her guardians any longer if and when she wins." Mello's mouth dropped. He hadn't known that part. Right then, he wished he had. There was no way in hell he'd have let this happen if it meant _he'd_ lose Sith, too.

"But… but she's still a Prince," Mello whispered, his voice softer than Ryou ever remembered, "Are you saying… all of us will eventually forget her?" Aeon's expression pained a bit. He was the only one who would never forget. Everyone else assembled were still mortals. He sighed, looking away. He couldn't face the others with that news.

"Aeon, I think you'd better answer us," Matt told him. Aeon's fists clenched. He knew what could happen if he didn't. He'd have eight very unhappy men to contend with.

"It may depend on whether or not life wipes the slate clean," the time-keeper said gently, and looked at them all. His eyes were watered, glistening, "The stories and the legends we've heard will be no more, but in our hearts, we'll always remember our prince. We've taken oaths to protect _Sith_, and not _the queen_. Sith will still live, though you must remember all of you are mortal. You will die before Sith begins to age." For that matter, they may even die before seeing her again. But that barely answered the question. It was only enough to appease Mello and Matt.

Shifting nervously, Kaiba asked, "So what does this mean? Do we do anything?" Aeon shook his head, folding his hands in his lap.

"There is nothing we can do until Fate decides which cousin to bless," he replied, and for once, his own voice was shaking, "The best we can do is pray it's our girl that pulls through. If not…" He purposely let the sentence hang. All of them knew the potential. If Sith didn't win, their worlds would be enslaved by the Lord of Madness herself. The terror would continue. It would simply have no one to command an army strong enough to try resisting.

The threat was unspoken, but the mention made all of Sith's guardians uneasy. Whether it was because they couldn't help her, or because their loyalty could be a great weakness, Ryou wasn't sure. He glanced at them all. The only ones who hadn't been forced into unwilling slavery had been Malik, Ryuuzaki, and Kaiba. They were the guardians from this world – a world that had no alignment with Espers any longer. Quietly, Ryou asked, "What happened after Sith freed you?" He looked at Aeon and Mello the longest when he asked that. Their reactions were not unnoticed by the others.

"When she and her son opened the portal to send you both home, we were sent through as well," Aeon told him, and there was true emotion that couldn't be avoided, "We are all deeply ashamed by what became of us. We should have been devoured by Oblivion for acting against Sith." Needless to say, Ryou felt that was harsh.

"Esper law can't possibly be that harsh," Yugi commented. He found several pairs of eyes staring at him as though he were an idiot. Mello was the one who spoke.

"When you consider Espers to be one of the oldest races, with the most complex caste system, trust me when I say it is," the blonde stated grimly, waving a hand lazily, "Why do you think Sith was exiled after releasing those Forbidden spells? Because it was _fun_ to fuck with Oblivion?"

"The higher the caste of the person you serve, the greater the repercussion for breaking the law," Basch told Yugi gently, leveling some of Mello's unwarranted anger, "Betrayal is the worst crime in Esper law. It's punishable by death, or by however the master in question's wish is." If that was true, then there'd be no punishment. Sith had understood the circumstances. She simply was too overwhelmed to do anything but fight them off.

At the very least, though, Basch's words explained why most Espers refused to come to Sith's aid when she needed it. Sith had explained once that what she did was an act of betrayal; it left millions of Espers without a ruling head, and created an entire race that had no direction other than the lunacy of a woman that should have been dead. Ryou could only hope that Sith could put an end to it before the whole cycle restarted, thusly putting them all in the same place they'd been before Rath managed to rip open the plane of time. He looked down at the rug, wondering how she was faring. The world wasn't ending yet. She had to be okay.

But when he glanced at the others to see if he could read anything they weren't saying, he found their faces betraying nothing. For the most part, Ryuuzaki, Kaiba, and Malik were content to worry about the fate of their own world. Not one of them forgot Sith's words concerning her failure. But for the other guardians, the stakes were far worse. If Sith didn't win, not only would several thousand worlds suffer the loss, but Espers would become a twisted race bred with evil and destruction, and all of her guardians would be forced to serve Rath instead. Ryou guessed that inheritance between feuding Espers was a bitch that no one could tame.

"You don't suppose Rath would be lenient because we hate her, do you?" Ryou asked, meaning for it to be a joke. But the glare Aeon gave him was more threatening than anything Mello had threatened him with. He realized they would've done better without that remark.

Tapping his clock-blade shortly, the time-keeper grimly said, "If I'm forced to endure that woman for any stretch of time, I'll be the first of us to commit suicide."

"I'm seconding that," Mello called quickly. Ryou stared at them both. That was a rash thing to decide, considering that it hadn't happened yet. Then again, he had been the one to bring the question out. He did stir their spirits a bit.

"You'd have to beat Saix to it, is my guess," Yugi put in, and Ryou snorted, "He probably won't live unless Sith wins." Ryou could almost see the man snarling and pacing the halls of Aeroglyph Castle, plotting out a way to rip Rath's throat out. But when he almost couldn't stifle a laugh, he noticed the guardians had fallen suspiciously silent again. He and Yugi glanced at each other, and then eyed the men assembled. They said nothing.

"Saix _is_ still alive, isn't he?" Ryou finally asked. Aeon blinked for a long moment. His silence wasn't a good answer. More urgently, Ryou said, "Tell me he isn't dead. Tell me Sith has a reason to fight!" Without Saix, Sith would give up. Ryou could feel it, and saw it in her eyes when the prospect of fighting him one last time had been glaring. Surprisingly, it was Ryuuzaki who spoke, not Aeon.

"He's alive, but that's not saying much," the detective told him gravely, and Ryou felt his spirit plummeting. For the past few months, Saix had been the glue that had kept Sith's plans together. He had been employed as her bodyguard and then an ambassador of sorts with dealings between the Organization and Sith. When he and Yugi left, Saix had been well.

"What happened to him?" Ryou demanded. The fact that he sounded so firm startled him. And it shocked the others, as well. Maybe he was getting temperamental because of Sith. Or maybe he respected Saix.

Realizing that Ryou wasn't trying to make an ass of himself, Mello said, "You didn't feel it, did you?"

"Feel _what?_" Ryou urged him impatiently. He frowned. Even if his magic was receding, he was sensitive to energy fields, just as Yugi was. If Saix had been severely wounded, he would have felt it. He wouldn't be asking such stupid questions.

"Saix fell into the abyss," Mello said to him, and Ryou felt such shock that he stood up, staring in utter disbelief. Saix_ fell_ into Oblivion! No wonder they were so grave. Oblivion was an endless void, where only Death would greet you when you managed to find your way in. How much time did Saix have before Death took him from Sith?

"How!" was the only question Ryou could ask. He had many more, but they were so jumbled up that he couldn't possibly prioritize which one he wanted answered first. Mello glanced at Aeon. The time-keeper nodded once. Mello produced a small mirror. There were two cracks in it.

"Faustierr's Mirror," he explained simply, as Ryou went to look at the shattered glass, "Has the ability to look into the life of any one person at one time. When we looked in on Sith, the glass shattered in three shards." Ryou hummed as he looked at the cracks. They created three perfect shards, each one the same size. Ryou felt magic within them.

Looking up at Mello, he asked, "What does that mean? Is Sith hurt? Is she… dead?" Mello shook his head. Ryou almost felt relief, except that he knew _something_ happened. The mirror was cloudy, reflecting nothing.

"Her soul split in three," the blonde told him quietly, and Ryou found himself sitting down, staring at nothing but knowing he was being spoken to, "An aftereffect of being removed from time. Rath couldn't destroy all remnants of Sith. The ones that survived are the ones fighting her now."

"The ones that _survived?_" Yugi repeated heatedly, incredulously. Mello swallowed a bit, sat back down. Malik took a breath. Now it was his turn to contribute to the briefing.

"I've already asked Katt to explain. She thinks that the remnants are all the parts of Sith that were _etched in stone_," Malik explained slowly; even now, her explanation didn't make too much sense to him, "The parts that were preordained and can't be erased with simple magic. Now that they've been forced to merge, they're rebelling. Sith's soul split to give them all life, to make it possible for three Sith to be there at once to destroy the person who took their lives away." Ryou blinked, and then shook his head. That made no sense. Sith had the people needed to help her. Why would her soul fracture like that?

When Ryou asked this, Malik said, "Because Victor and Artemis were destroyed when Rath reappeared. The screams she released were so powerful that it split the heavens and wiped out everyone with _Sith's blood_ in their veins." Ryou shivered. Would that mean Sceppiro was dead? No… Katt was alive and she was Sith's twin. But how many were destroyed? How big was Sith's lineage supposed to be?

"So Sith took it upon herself to find a new solution," Ryou concluded. Malik sighed heavily, leaned back much like Mello had. It was more complicated than that.

"Not consciously, but losing her sons triggered something within her that made her subconscious act for her," Malik replied tiredly. Ryou glanced at Yugi. The boy seemed even more confused than before. Truth to tell, Ryou wasn't understanding the explanations any better.

"Will this make it easier for her?" Ryou asked, directing the question mostly to Aeon. The time-keeper looked over, and Ryou found himself feeling small in the youthful man's gaze. There was an intensity there Ryou wasn't used to.

"It depends on what you'd consider easier," Aeon began, "Her skills within all three incarnations is formidable. Almost unstoppable. But if Rath kills one soul, all three perish." Aeon didn't need to explain why. Ryou sighed, hanging his head. Sith's will acted out of desperation, but in doing so, she put a huge disadvantage against herself. She was three times as vulnerable.

What made it all worse was that there was absolutely nothing any of them could do except to wait. Magic was ebbing away from their world, and Aeon couldn't open a portal into _Oblivion_. The only plane he had access to was time, and that wouldn't take him to where Sith was. And even if he could access the void, even he would be torn apart by the intense concentration of energy. Only Espers had a shred of resistance within, and a meager one at that.

Ryou didn't want the situation to get dire, and he knew everyone's spirits were low because of what was happening. He looked at the mirror. It was of no use because of the cracks. But it was the only way to see Sith, to see how the final skirmish fared. "Can we repair the mirror?" he asked, looking at each guardian in succession. The problem was, most of them knew nothing about the artifact in question, or about any artifacts of Esper origin. Aeon and Mello were the only ones who knew about the mirror – and that was merely because Mello had the gall to swipe it!

"Look at the cracks," Ryuuzaki said, and pointed one out. Ryou looked. It was pulsing with blue energy. The veins were thin; he saw it only because Ryuuzaki told them about it. But there was no doubt that most of the magic he felt was coming from them. Ryou's mouth opened a little bit as he looked. He had never seen it before.

"Magic?" he guessed. Aeon nodded, fingering one vein. Ryou winced when he heard a soft throb. It was _pulsing_.

"Living magic. This mirror operates off of the life force of the person you're viewing," the time-keeper explained. Ryou felt his stomach turn. Those were veins of _Sith's_ life force. At least it showed she was okay. The pulse seemed healthy enough, though Ryou remembered she was exhausted when he left her and Saix.

"The veins keep us from repairing the mirror?" Ryou asked, trying to get one of them to answer the question. Aeon's expression turned to uncertainty. Repairing the artifact would be a very delicate process, and the materials needed wouldn't be located on this world. He said all of this. Ryou wasn't happy. Grumpily, the younger man asked, "Then what do we do? I can't sit here and do nothing."

"Then go take a walk," Mello retorted sternly, and Ryou stared at him. Softening, Mello said, "Ryou, this is a waiting game now. Even if we opened up a portal, we would be ripped apart. We have to remain calm, and wait for an opportunity to do something. In the meantime, go outside and burn some energy." Ryou growled for a second. For Mello, who was the most irritated of the group, to be telling Ryou to calm down just seemed like a slap in the face. But Ryou also understood Mello was older – far older, depending on how many years ago he was slain. If anyone understood how to wait something out, it most likely would be Mello.

With nothing more to do, and with his aggravation only rising, Ryou took Mello's advice and left the other guardians in his house. He left, taking Yugi with him, and stalked through his yard. He had no idea where he should've been heading. He just knew he had a lot of energy to burn, and he needed a way to get rid of it before he did something even stupider than the things he'd already committed. He stopped at the curb, looking down both ways. Domino had changed too much, he decided. Neither way looked like it even led to one of the main streets anymore.

He decided it was best to just wander and see the full effects for himself. Domino was a relatively safe city; he didn't see the worry in getting lost. He took the path opposite the one he and Yugi had came from. It went straight for almost a mile before snaking northeast, then dumped straight south, most probably into the busier section of the city. But for the most part, the road was dotted with modest residences and gardens. Ryou could see, going north, that farmland would take over once they passed the outskirts. Magic must've played a heavy part in technological advancements. The city looked so empty now.

When they rounded the first bend, Yugi said, "I can't believe how much has changed already. Ryou… do you think we've taken a step back?" Ryou looked down at him curiously. He didn't quite understand the question.

"A step back?" Ryou repeated. Yugi nodded, looking ahead of the road. Even now, things were different. There weren't any cars on the road, and even in the outskirts, it was normally busier than it was right then.

"There's so much… nature everywhere," Yugi told him. He stopped, he gestured north, "We didn't have farms in Domino before, Ryou. This all used to be housing, remember? It was a neighborhood. Now… it's so empty." Ryou found himself frowning. That was true. He remembered having more neighbors and seeing more houses than he had. His brow arched.

"Magic couldn't have done that, could it?" he asked. Yugi had no idea, though. And the few people who would were inside, where Ryou didn't want to be right then. He hummed. And the more he thought about it, the more he realized how much magic had been saturating his world. The ESB itself had accounted for more than half the city's modes of transport, as well as officials and peace-keepers. The library had access to all sorts of artifacts that Sith had examined. Duran, some twenty miles east, had a population of Chesier-to-human that equaled ten-to-one. Southencamp, Prattlesburg, and the Scrapel outpost were no less. That was a lot of magic to vanish in one night.

Yugi had the same train of thought. He glanced at Ryou again and asked, "_Now_ do you think we've taken a step back?"

"I knew Espers and Mystics had come here, but I never knew how long they'd been here. Yugi… what if the ones that fought in the war between Egypt and Nesce never left?" Ryou suggested, and Yugi nodded his agreement, "With Rath taken down before Sith even left for Egypt, Espers would have no reason to even come to our world."

"Which would make everything they contributed to us disappear as well," Yugi finished grimly. Ryou slapped his own forehead. With that in mind, he guessed Espers had been in his world for over three thousand years. Yeah, vanishing them really would put a dent in his world's advancement. How much had humanity evolved? How much had the Espers taught them to do it?

"I think we'd better go and see everyone else," Ryou said after a long moment of thought. Yugi said nothing, but the set of his jaw told Ryou the boy wasn't about to object. They'd seen enough of the structural changes as it was; they needed to eventually face the fact that the people they loved might change, too. Ryou felt it was best to get the shock over with quickly. So he continued leading Yugi down the road toward the heart of the city.

Domino had always been a bustling, sprawling city full of shops, offices, and street stalls, where the modern conveniences of the world were just minutes away from the general populace. It had once boasted the most entertaining events, the flashiest ceremonies, and the largest mass of people living in that world. Ryou remembered a time where you couldn't go two steps before greeting someone else, and finding a quiet place to sit and relax was as difficult as finding a needle in the hay. He remembered when Domino had been the capital of their small world.

But it was no longer like that. Domino had changed almost as dramatically as Algon had. The shops were smaller. The offices were spread further apart. Apartment complexes seemed to have been swallowed up, and old manors seemed to take their place. Gardens grew where once only tar and asphalt inhabited the plains. Ryou and Yugi stared, mouths agape, at the newness of it all. They'd taken steps back, all right. It felt almost as if they were right back in Nesce, before it had been destroyed. The only difference was, nothing seemed to be running on steam or crystals.

"Good god," Ryou breathed, unable to think of anything else to say. Yugi just blinked, scanned the area. The central park was far bigger than he remembered. And there were far too many trees. This couldn't have been Domino… except that he recognized the school, and the Kaiba Corp tower in the distance.

"We should've asked Sith what she meant by 'consequences," Yugi grumbled unhappily, "Too many trees here." Ryou snorted. To him, the abundance of nature was the least of his concerns. They'd grow to like it, eventually. Right then, he was more focused on the population. Or rather, the lack of it.

"Where is everyone?" he asked quietly, looking down the silent streets. There were very few cars parked, and he could see people walking in the far distance. But it was just too quiet.

"Makes you wonder how much of the populace was human," Yugi commented, and Ryou looked down at him, "I'm starting to think Espers underwent further mutation and that there were more half-Espers than we knew." Ryou was inclined to agree. He remembered Victor. Victor had hidden his inhuman origins too well. He hadn't even revealed himself to his own mother.

"That'd explain the lack of activity," Ryou agreed, finding his frown growing. This wasn't good. Their world may have been stable, but it was too quiet. Did that mean there were actually very few humans left? Why hadn't Sith told them? Ryou wondered if she knew about it. Sith never mentioned the possibility of half-breeds.

'_It's possible she didn't know_.' Ryou spun quickly, having heard Bakura's voice. Lo and behold, the wily thief stood there, grinning at him. He was solid. But… he should've been dead. Without the Espers, he couldn't live on as a spirit. His destiny had already been fulfilled. Bakura chuckled, speaking aloud, "I'm Sith's guardian, Ryou. I took an oath like the others."

"But Sith never met you!" Ryou cried. Bakura laughed now, shaking his head. That was only true in the fact that that happened _before_ Rath shattered time. As a spirit, he retained the memories he had before death. Those memories included Sith.

"Some things cannot be erased by magic," Bakura told him simply, gently, "Bonds made through a heart can't be destroyed. Rath didn't take that into account when she tried to sever us from Sith. Nor did she think the bonds between Sith and Saix were strong enough. In the end, that was her undoing."

"Rath is dead?" Yugi asked, daring to sound hopeful. Bakura gave a half-smile that intrigued Ryou. Aeon had said the battle was still raging. But that had been nearly an hour ago. Battling three of Sith might have proved to be too much.

"No, but she's fallen into the abyss. If Sith doesn't kill her, the death wind within surely will," Bakura replied darkly, and looked up at the sky. It was darkening, turning a deep blue as the stars began to wink, "No being, mortal or immortal, can survive the final call. Rath has doomed herself." But that still left Sith and Saix. They, too, were trapped in the abyss.

"And what about Sith!" Ryou asked urgently. Bakura stopped smiling. He looked down sadly, not wanting to admit the possibility. To either himself, or the young men in front of him.

"Sacrifices are always made to keep Oblivion from collapsing," the old thief began, his voice beginning to quiver, "Sith understood this. She's known it for centuries. She knew what could happen if she jumped in." Ryou shut his eyes. That meant attempting to save Saix was futile, useless. That wasn't Sith. She never acted without cause. Why did she bother to this time when it would kill her?

Ryou asked that. Bakura looked at him, looked at Yugi. Ryou continued, "She wouldn't have risked that for Mello. Mello… could have taken Saix's place." He would have, if Amber hadn't succeeded in releasing the orbs and attracting Xemnas's attention three years prior. Bakura sighed.

"Mello was not part of Sith's overall future. Only a small glimmer of it," Bakura reminded him, and Ryou looked steadily down, "Mello _could_ have, sure. You could have, too, if you'd grown up a bit. _Anyone_ could take Saix's place. But they wouldn't be Saix.

"You'll understand the bond yourself when you feel it, Ryou," Bakura continued calmly, and Ryou felt his cheeks burn, "It's not about who could be placed there, who could take that role. It's about Fate. Fate decides our lives before we even know who we are, Ryou. She is the puppet master, even acting on the gods themselves when she can't control her tools. We're merely her puppets. We act according to her will." Ryou felt a shiver up his spine. He had never taken the time to consider Fate playing a part in this. He tried to disbelieve Fate as much as possible.

"Sith and Saix were fated?" he asked. Bakura nodded slowly.

"Everyone is fated, Ryou. Some things, she will let us choose. But there are some events we cannot possible untangle," Bakura explained to him, "Fate may be flexible, but her end is absolute. Even Sith cannot possibly break the threads. And in the end, she chose not to." Ryou wondered if she would have met Saix even without succeeding her quest in Domino. She would have. Amber would have done the necessary steps. Sith would have killed Katsaiga regardless of the setbacks Domino gave her. Fate would have forced it.

"Fate binds everyone?" Ryou asked timidly. Bakura nodded again, and his smile was returning now. He didn't look so much like the old, crotchety thief they knew. He looked… more like Ryou, when he wasn't so mean.

"Her web is a tangled mess, but we all have a place in it," Bakura said. He looked down at the Millennium Ring, "We shape the universe in the way she wants it. It's been this way since the beginning of time." He eyed Ryou again and said, "Who knows what part she still has for you."

"I'd prefer not to get mixed up in it," Yugi said abruptly, and he found both men looking at him. He shuddered for a minute, "Haven't we done enough yet?" Bakura stood back, and then just roared with laughter. That was the most asinine bullshit he'd ever heard. The truth was, Fate never stopped her march over her tools until they expired.

"Obviously not, since you're still living," was the sly answer. Yugi just grumbled unhappily. Ryou, however, didn't mind it if Fate still had a use for him. Heavens knew he felt useless enough as it was. But he also knew that feeling would pass. It was simply shock from losing so much of the life he'd learned to live.

Bakura was equally as thoughtful. He looked up at the sky. It was dark now; the sun no longer cast any light over the horizon. He hummed. The first night they'd experience without the gift of magic. Even his magic – ancient power, at that – was beginning to subside. Fate had parts for all of them, all right. But she was telling him it was almost his time to go. He looked back at Ryou. Ryou was so young, too young to be worrying so much about Fate. Ryou was more like him than he ever wanted to admit. Smiling, he said, "We should see how everyone else is coping."

"If it's anything like Sith said, they don't even know she exists," Yugi told him regretfully. Bakura's smile became more knowing. Aeon tried to tell him the same bullshit hours ago. He hadn't believed it then, either.

"You don't honestly believe that," Bakura said. Yugi sighed, and shook his head. He wasn't quite sure what he believed. But he knew _he_ wouldn't forget their friend. He knew Ryou wouldn't, either. But who else really knew Sith? Who, aside from them, actually chose to accept her? He asked the old thief that. Bakura replied with, "Isn't that what we're going to find out?"

Yugi never thought of it that way. He began to like Bakura's suggestion. Grinning, he said, "Yeah. Let's go, then." Bakura snorted. That was easy enough to convince him. He turned to Ryou next. Steadily, the young man looked down.

"I'll never get used to Sith fading away entirely. But I know this is how it should be," Ryou stated quietly, and smiled as he looked up, "Let's go. We should check in with everyone, anyway. It's been too long." Yugi agreed. Bakura just kept grinning, and led the way. The apartments were gone now, but Anzu's residence hadn't changed. Everyone knew where Kaiba's mansion was.

The only thing no one understood was that Fate had more in store for them all. Domino… no, the entire universe, hadn't yet reached its darkest hour. Sith was still fighting. The old Esper hadn't won yet.

-(End Chapter)

Domino City has changed much since Ryou and Yugi last visited it. As they wander the streets and speak to their friends, they see just how much the Espers had integrated themselves into society. After leaving the other guardians, Ryou and Yugi finally find Bakura. But the old thief merely talks about Fate, a mysterious force that controls all events and beings – including Sith herself. Has Fate decided to let Domino rest after the tumult of corruption plaguing it for centuries? Or is there one more thing the worlds must suffer before peace is achieved? Find out next chapter, so click that Review button!


	28. Sith's Successors

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or Kingdom Hearts. Takahashi owns Yu-Gi-Oh, and Square-Enix owns Kingdom Hearts. They both said I can keep Sephiroth. That's only because one doesn't know Sephiroth, and the other is sick of promoting a badass mama's boy like him.

The chase felt like it'd been going on forever. Sith had jumped straight into the pits of hell, and had thought she'd come out facing Rath almost immediately. But, as she and her two cohorts dove deeper and deeper through the fabrics of being, she understood that wasn't the case any longer. Rath may have fallen, but she hadn't been caught too off guard. She used the time it took for Sith to overcome the shock to run and hide. And though Sith knew the abyss would eventually kill Rath, she also knew a stall tactic when she was dealing with it. That same abyss would take her out, too. All Rath had to do was endure waiting for that time to come.

Even worse was that Saix was also trapped in the voids. Even if Rath died – and if Sith were to see it! – there was still the matter of finding him. In a plane so big, she knew that would be next to impossible. And she wasn't going to leave without him. None of them were. One had loved him for too long. One was still too young to understand that love. And one was still in love with him, and didn't want to give him up. Yes, Rath was going to use this unfortunate side-trip to her full advantage.

"Where could she have gone!" the younger Sith demanded, as they came to a stop. They were all tired. Every second in Oblivion sapped them of their life force, called them to the arms of the reaper himself. Sith tried not to think of how Saix was faring.

"The bitch intends to let the voids finish what she couldn't," the elder Sith growled bitterly. Sith just shivered as they continued descending into the darkness. If they didn't hurry, that would very well be the case. Not wanting to think about the Mystic, the older Sith said, "Damn it, I miss my husband."

"Saix…" Sith whispered. Her cohorts looked at her, and then they each looked away. He was in just as much danger, and fighting tooth and nail for his life, no doubt. And he was mortal. Sith had far more time than he did.

"He'll be fine," the elder Sith assured her, and Sith stared up at her, "He's a strong man. Hell knows he's survived centuries with me. He'll pull through for you." Sith looked down. She wasn't so sure of that one. She didn't have the same belief her future had.

"I… I know he will…" she said quietly. Part of her wasn't sure he would, but she had to trust him. Neither of them had come all this way to die – though she knew Oblivion required a sacrifice from her at some point. Well, two sacrifices now. This wasn't her first time through here. It may not even be her last. But would both of her hands have to be marked?

They continued flying. Eventually, the blackness stopped and they saw tendrils of red haze drift upwards. They were descending deep now, deeper than most mortals could go. Sith silently cursed. She had wanted to keep the battle on the upper tiers, where portals would be easier to open. But Rath didn't operate that way. Rath wanted to run Sith through the gauntlet before this was done. Fine. Sith would show her what the three thousand years since their last physical battle did for her. Whatever didn't kill her only made her stronger.

At least, she tried to tell herself this every day.

The night grew cold by the time they made their way through the central city park and reached the older section of the city, where the manors stood. Here, the buildings were taller, seeming to melt in the blackness of the sky. Ryou felt crowded; it was a different feeling from when apartment buildings used to clog the area. Apartments weren't often gated and locked, keeping outsiders from entering the inner keeps. And though the gardens they could see were beautiful – they put even the park to shame! – it made Ryou feel as if he were being watched, having to sneak through the shadows as they were.

As they walked, Bakura filled them in on everything he'd heard and seen. Personally, not much had changed since Sith's disappearance. Kaiba and Anzu were still set to be married the coming summer. Jou still worked at Houligans. Mokuba was still trying to sneak out to have an adventure or two on his own. The only difference was that Anzu no longer had a second maid of honor, Jou had no idea how he had his job, and Mokuba couldn't remember who was supposed to be helping him strike out on his own. All three things that had been noticed primarily by Kaiba himself; no one else understood why they felt such a sense of loss.

"So it's a trickle-down job, after all," Yugi said, when Bakura finished. The old thief considered that. Then, he nodded.

"I believe so. Anzu, Miho, and Jou know something's missing, but they can't place what it is," Bakura told them both quietly, "Meanwhile, Honda is oblivious to the change." Yugi's theory had been right, after all. Those closest to Sith felt the loss. They simply had no memory of her because they took no oaths.

"Think they'd believe us if we told them?" Ryou asked. Bakura looked at him with that disapproving stare, and Ryou knew he shouldn't have even asked. He swallowed hard. Bakura wasn't about to let him make a very bad mistake.

"Unless you want a very pissy Esper down here, I'd advise _not_ telling them," the spirit said firmly, eyeing Ryou critically as he spoke, "The world is finally in balance. Why would you want to screw it up again?" He hated being harsh. But wanting Sith was a habit he'd have to break from Ryou, even if it meant coming off as an ass.

Thankfully, Ryou had matured enough to not throw a tantrum about it. He looked down and said, "It's just going to be weird when half of us remember someone who technically never came here." Bakura couldn't say he didn't agree. But what happened had to be done. Fate wanted her mistakes corrected. Her tools needed to be specific.

They stopped when they came to a larger property with a wrought-iron fence protecting the perimeters. Ryou recognized the mansion; it hadn't changed at all. That, at least, was a relief. Except that the gate was locked. Even Bakura hadn't anticipated that. He walked right into the gate, and cursed audibly. Even from there, he saw there were people inside. The lights on the second floor were enough of a tip-off.

"Damn it, that bastard locked us out!" the old thief exclaimed hotly. Then, he bent over the lock, "This'll take a minute, kids." Ryou and Yugi exchanged glances. There was a reason the gate was locked. Kaiba wasn't home. He was still at Ryou's place!

"Think we ought to tell him the truth?" Yugi whispered. Ryou just snickered. He wasn't sure if it'd make a difference. Bakura might still try breaking in just to ruin Kaiba's sense of security. He _was_ a thief, after all.

"If he starts doing property damage, then we can tell him," Ryou said after a moment. Yugi stifled a laugh. No one had forgotten the last time Bakura made a fool of himself in Kaiba's domain. Granted, last time, he'd actually been invited indoors, and Sith had been there to neutralize most of the damage. This time, he might actually hurt someone. Including, most of all, himself.

Unfortunately, the years had taught Kaiba to invest a few hundred dollars in a lock. Bakura couldn't crack it. The tumblers wouldn't match up, and when he looked to see why, he saw the lock was mechanical. His primal skills weren't enough for it – he never successfully figured out how to use a computer for anything other than playing games. And Sith had been smart enough to keep it that way, despite his hours of whining at her.

"Damn it all to Ra!" he finally screamed, bashing the lock against the iron bars, "What, does Kaiba expect the holocaust to assault him! Why did he lock his damn gate, anyway! Where is he!" Ryou and Yugi exchanged glances again. Now seemed like the best time to tell him. He did still have the Millennium Ring, after all.

"He's at Ryou's," Yugi answered simply. Bakura's mouth dropped, and he turned quickly on the two boys.

"And you couldn't have said something _before!_" he demanded shortly. Ryou chuckled, and Yugi snorted. But neither of them would look him in the eye. Bakura had a feeling he was about to be made a fool. By these two _idiot children_.

"You never asked," Ryou said quietly, as Yugi laughed and told him, "It's not our fault you didn't consider he wouldn't be at home." Bakura growled. To him, they were expecting quite a lot out of a tired spirit. He was over three thousand, he just lost one of his closest friends, and he had no idea what his purpose in life was _now_. He really didn't need to be laughed at, unless his purpose required a bloody mess to make.

"You two are just as bad as that bat-winged wench," he mumbled in annoyance. Yugi laughed again. Perhaps they were. But Sith had given them a few pointers in the art of 'being honest.' It was an art she excelled at, especially when it came out as backhanded as their honesty just did.

"We're just trying to let the memory live on a little longer," Yugi replied heartily. Bakura grumbled. But it wasn't like he was telling them to stop.

Bakura couldn't break the lock. But he had other ways of getting through the fence. The gate had no solid hold for him to vault over it. But it wasn't rooted deep into the ground. Using his knife, a large stick, and the remains of a shattered bowl, he dug a pit underneath that would take them under the fence, coming up three feet into the yard. Ryou and Yugi watched, wanting no involvement in case the law decided to catch up with them. They were breaking in, after all. Never mind the fact that they could've just _called_ Kaiba and asked him to unlock the damn gate. Bakura always had to do things the hard way.

It was nearing nine thirty by the time Bakura managed to make the pit deep enough. Now all that was left was to dig north a few feet. If he was lucky, he might get it done before midnight. It'd help if the two idiots above actually did something other than stare at him. But when he looked up, he saw they weren't watching him anymore. They were staring at the road. Ryou looked about as terrified as a deer in the headlights. Bakura peeked over the rim of the hole he made. And he soon saw why. Kaiba had finally returned home. And he wasn't happy.

Stalking to the hole, Kaiba scowled and asked, "What the hell is going on here?" Though he wasn't surprised to see either Ryou or Yugi, he had a feeling everything that happened was because of the man standing inside of the hole.

"Trying to get into your damn house to see everyone else," Bakura snapped, climbing over the rim and onto the grass. He dusted his arms off, stared at Kaiba, "Any particular reason you locked your own fiancée _inside_?"

"I was trying to protect them," Kaiba growled, pushing past Bakura, toward the lock, "Magic might be receding, but monsters still exist. We've got imps and goblins prowling the outskirts of the city, and I've heard there are _werewolves_ looking to get in, too. No way in hell are they harming my family." He looked down at it. He saw the back was slightly dented, too. He had no doubt as to why. He looked over at Bakura and asked, "Did you have to bash it against the bars?"

"If it meant making sure our friends are safe, I'd have blown the damn gate apart!" Bakura told him indignantly, and for once, he wasn't trying to be foolish or difficult, "Kaiba, you might've come back here, but you're the only one aside from Malik who's seen our friends. We're worried, and we know there are newer problems now that Sith isn't here to patrol the streets herself." Kaiba relaxed a bit, knowing that Bakura meant his words. Now he felt bad for his accusatory tone; he was just doing what Sith couldn't do.

"I admit I'm glad she took the remnants of Oblivion with her when she left, but I never once believed it was the source of _all_ magic," Kaiba said to them, as he unlocked the gate, "If it were, we'd have more Espers running around." Ryou and Yugi exchanged yet another glance as the gates swung open. Kaiba strode through, with Bakura in tow. When they noticed they weren't being followed, they both looked back questioning. Ryou's expression was too easy to read.

"Judging by the lack of people wandering around, I'd say we had a good number of them among us, in hiding," Ryou told him, and Kaiba frowned, "Just by environmental changes alone, I'd say we had more Espers and half-breeds than people."

"That explains a lot about the imbalance, then," Bakura commented softly, tapping his chin as he turned, "The more Espers, the more magic we have. And with other energy still swirling around, I'm not surprised things got so bad. The fact that it took millennia to play out shows how cognoscente the Espers were to this fact." But the knowledge that they feared Sith made Ryou unhappy. She was working to end Rath's madness. Though, he also noted, destruction was often left in her wake.

"But does this mean all Espers fled already?" Yugi asked. Bakura said nothing. He wasn't sure what to say. He didn't know. All he could say was that the overall energy surrounding the city had decreased exponentially. At the very least, most of the _people_ fled. Whether or not they were human, he couldn't guess.

He didn't need to. Someone else already knew. They hadn't even seen that they were being followed, and the figure finally stepped out of the alley between Kaiba's fence, and his neighbor's. "Not _all_ of us, but most of us don't exist in your world any longer. You can't have what never existed here," that voice belonged to none other than Katt Winchester, Sith's fraternal twin and the reason Sith had even come here at all. Ryou turned to her, shocked to find she was still around.

"K-Katt!" Ryou blurted out, as Bakura's eyes narrowed and he asked, "What in hell do you think you're doing here?"

"Sith's going to want to know how you all fared after she gets back," the red-headed Esper said simply, shrugging, "I'm making the report easier on her." She yelped when she saw Bakura's eyes flash with anger. He hadn't forgotten how often she left her own sister in dire straights. He hadn't forgotten how she ran from him when he demanded answers from her. And he certainly hadn't forgotten it was she who forced Sith into a six-year headache.

Advancing on her, he said, "You have some nerve showing your face to me, Katt. For your information, we were going to do your job for you." Ryou had no idea of the events that happened when Falnika had trapped him in a different world. He had no idea that Bakura had chased Katt throughout the city. He had a feeling he'd find out soon enough why Bakura's hostility was so prevalent.

"Bakura, please don't be difficult," the Esper pleaded tiredly. Bakura would've laughed. Except he found no mirth with her. He spat.

"You screwed your own sister into this mess. I have every right to hate you," he said to her, his ire leaking through his words, "She was – is still! – my good friend. I don't appreciate when she gets tossed around on her ass. Especially by someone she ought to trust." Katt looked away guiltily. Her own misdeeds would haunt her forever. That didn't mean Bakura had to keep her wounds open.

Ryou wasn't good at much, but he knew how to keep Bakura under control. He quietly said, "Whatever's happened is in the past, Bakura. Let it go." Bakura didn't normally like getting aggressive with Ryou. But this was one thing he wasn't about to let go of. He turned on Ryou sharply, half of him unable to believe the boy would actually stand up to him.

"But if she hadn't…" Bakura began. But Ryou knew both sisters, and knew Katt had just been trying to protect Sith. Even from their family's secret.

"Let it _go_," Ryou said, much more firmly. Bakura swallowed hard, stepping back. Ryou continued, "No one is perfect, Bakura. Including Espers. Give her some slack." Bakura sighed heavily. He didn't truly want to. But Sith hadn't hated her over it. He shouldn't have, either. Katt smiled at the younger man.

"Thank you for that," she said, and turned back to Bakura, "Putting that aside, would you take me with you?" She noticed the thief's face grew a bit pale, and he didn't look angry anymore; he looked hesitant. Brow arched, she asked, "Everyone _is_ alive, right?"

"Yes, but the situation's difficult," Kaiba told her, saving Bakura the trouble, "No one will remember you or Sith. We can't take you inside unless you go in bundled with a cloak." Katt blinked. The reality of what had happened hadn't hit her until now. Sceppiro told her Sith was out of the picture, but he never said she'd be out of it, too. Then, she accepted it gracefully. This was what she deserved when she tried forcing Fate to do what she wanted.

"I don't need to be inside. If there's a balcony I can hide on, that's just as good," Katt said to him. Kaiba didn't exactly _want_ an Esper perched on his house. But Katt was less dangerous than Sith. Katt wouldn't demolish his house just because he said 'no.' Of the two sisters, he liked her a bit more. He just snorted.

"Yeah, there is," he grumbled, and Bakura took that as their cue to head to the front doors, "Give me ten minutes to get everyone in the upstairs gallery. Then you can observe them all you want." Katt smiled. Kaiba left her to jump up to the second-story balcony on the side of the house. As far as he was concerned, so long as monsters didn't touch anyone, he was willing to make deals with them.

Kaiba wasn't sure what he was going to do to keep his guests distracted in the upper gallery. He knew Katt needed to see for herself how they all were, but as he walked through the hall, toward the parlor in the back, he couldn't see how he'd convince everyone to go upstairs to _resume their conversations_. His guests, in their defense, weren't the business-types he was used to dealing with. They were all of Anzu's friends; they'd want to know why Kaiba would come bursting in like a one-man SWAT team just to break up their gathering. He knew he'd have to think of something.

The problem was, he knew his life wasn't exactly interesting enough to keep anyone but Mokuba occupied for more than a couple of seconds. He hadn't come out with any new dueling equipment for the past year, and the amusement park he was trying to build in Costa Luna had been stalled indefinitely when a group of bandits managed to make off with more than half the equipment he'd sent to start the construction. The whole incident with Falnika had put most of his life on a standstill. And Sith had asked for his help in conducting business with Xemnas. Nothing of which he could even talk to them about.

He'd have to make something up. Or so, he thought. He heard a creak and looked up at the chandelier above him. He found Katt was perched on it. That was funny. She was supposed to be outside, sitting on the balcony. Quietly, he hissed, "What are you doing!"

"You're forgetting I can read your mind," Katt told him gently, "You're that worried about getting them upstairs? I figured I'd come inside and save you some trouble." Kaiba grumbled. Although he did appreciate her help, he didn't enjoy that he hadn't escaped from the essence of _magic_ just yet. Some things, he felt should be kept private.

"Whatever you plan on doing, try not to destroy my house in the process," the frustrated man simply sighed, and glanced at Bakura as he spoke the next part, "I have enough trouble with that already." Bakura just grinned. Leveling the house was an exaggeration. But Bakura was more creative than just leaving general destruction. Sometimes breaking a few locks was enough.

Kaiba, Ryou, Bakura, and Yugi slipped into the lower gallery without notice. Jou and Honda were already having a duel that was becoming louder – verbally so – than anyone in the house deemed necessary. No one saw the four stalk silently behind them, each taking a seat as quietly as they had come. Katt remained right outside the door, hidden from sight. She kept her eyes on the group; in particular, she watched Miho and Anzu. They had been, at least in part, the emotional support Sith had while she had stayed in this world. Katt guessed she'd want to know if they'd even live once the madness of Oblivion had been taken care of.

So far, they seemed to be doing all right. They were watching and laughing as the game commenced. Not a one seemed to notice anything missing around them. When Jou's holographic monster nearly broke the vase, however, Anzu snapped, "Would you learn to be careful! This isn't your house!" That caused a round of silence, and an almost audible snort from Katt. That sounded far more like something Sith would have said. So Sith hadn't just influenced Malik and Yugi. Katt found that interesting.

"Hey, you don't need to get bitchy, Anzu," Honda said quietly. That had a profound effect on the younger woman. Her face went from anger… to shock. She looked around her, saw the reactions her outburst had. In honesty, she hadn't thought she'd get that angry, either.

"I… I'm sorry. I don't know where that came from," she said, sitting back down. Folding her hands in her lap, she said, "It just… came out. Like something I heard once, but… that's not me. Jou, I'm so sorry." She looked up to find the man smiling. As usual, Jou took things in stride. Even when he'd been the one to be snapped at.

"Maybe it's pre-wedding stress," he suggested, as the hologram flickered in and out. Anzu decided that had to be it. But Kaiba wasn't so gullible. He knew the truth. He glanced toward the cracked door, wondering if Katt had seen that second for herself.

She had. And she wasn't sure what to say. Magic didn't die so quickly; everyone who understood its great power knew this. She wasn't entirely surprised those closest to Sith had begun to take some of her attributes. And she wasn't sure how happy Sith would be to find that out. Maybe it would fade. Magic didn't die, but it could fade. Sighing, Katt kept watching. Soon after, the incident was dropped and the duel resumed. This time, Jou was intent on being careful.

The duel lasted nearly an hour, and Katt wasn't quite sure who was winning, or if there would be a victor. Jou and Honda seemed more content to blow up each other's monsters as opposed to doing any actual strategic battling. More than once, she saw Kaiba was on the verge of falling asleep from it all. If it were him, both duelists would've been knocked on their asses. To him, the duel was a waste of time when he could've been out preparing for the hell that could potentially be unleashed within the day. Then again, he also knew there were several other guardians waiting for the judging moment, as well. That was why he'd come home, after all.

After the duel, things quieted down. Kaiba went from being a vigilant guardian to a gracious host – far more gracious now that he could see first-hand that his world was going to be okay. He had dinner brought into the gallery; he slipped out in the pretense of giving orders to give Katt a new idea. She could sneak in under the guise of one of his chefs to further her report for her sister. Katt, although not as great a cook as her brother, took the chance without hesitation.

Dinner was brought without incident. The only ones who recognized her were Yugi, Bakura, Ryou, and Kaiba. All four were wise enough to hide it away as she served the meal: Kaiba couldn't describe it, but it consisted of several Aeroglyphian recipes he had no intention of ever duplicating. Part of him was pissed. Katt should've stuck to preparing _human_ recipes. Then again, Katt wasn't human. To her, what she made _was_ human food. So, she served it with a smile, something that never failed to disarm everyone around her. Including Bakura and Kaiba.

Trouble hit, however, when she turned to take the empty trays back into the kitchen. She had done well enough to hide most of her Esperian features from view, but one thing she couldn't get rid of were her wings. The tips were poking out of her coat, and they were visible. Kaiba stared, trying to keep his alarm down. But he couldn't when Jou saw it and said, "What the hell! Kaiba, you have an Esper here?" The room fell silent. Katt froze. Her cover was blown.

Kaiba was a good actor. He kept himself calm and merely wiped the corner of his mouth with his napkin, "Well, yes. Why wouldn't I? They make excellent chefs." He might have been calm, but his guests weren't. Not when Espers were as rare as flawless diamonds.

"Where'd you find her? Our world hasn't seen an Esper for centuries," Miho told him blankly. Kaiba choked now. He hadn't counted on that problem being part of the equation. And neither had the others. That simply confirmed what Katt said earlier, except that she'd given the impression that Espers were fairly common sights with the lack of humanity living in the city at large. Now, it was a different story.

It was a story Kaiba wasn't prepared for. He didn't have an answer. But Katt was the sneakiest of her siblings. She simply smiled again and said, "I found him. Where I come from, our world is quite desolate and work is hard to find. We are superior in strength and power. A chef is required to lift heavy pots, yes?" Her accent was perfect, though Ryou noted it seemed different from Sith's. Perhaps they simply chose whatever human languages they learned as opposed to inheriting the accents from their parents.

In any case, she was convincing. Jou just grinned and said, "Oh, I see. I was wondering what city you came from. We heard rumors that Espers lived far south of the Domino Bay."

"They are just rumors, I'm afraid. As you say, Espers have not been here for centuries," Katt replied easily, and Kaiba found himself relaxing, "But we have worlds close to here. It may not be long before we visit." That sated his friends' curiosity. For a few moments, Katt humored the group and answered their questions patiently. But while her smile was gentle and carefree, Kaiba could see her eyes were harder than her expression. She wasn't just striking up conversation. She was watching.

Before long, Katt had what she needed to make a full report of the situation. She slipped away when the others began to eat their meals, and once in the kitchen, wrote everything she had heard down. They remembered nothing. They knew nothing about Nesce, about Sith, about anything pertaining to the Espers. When she brought up a sister, no one reacted. Rath's attack hit home. The Winchester line had been completely removed, and with them went every event that had been connected to the war that had never been. Sith might just sigh a breath of relief.

Kaiba and Bakura came into the kitchen less than an hour later. They found Katt sitting behind the island counter, still scribbling her notes. Bakura smiled weakly. Despite the unintentional treachery, Katt was dedicated to her sister's cause. He knelt down gently, not wanting to alarm her. Quietly, he asked, "How's the report coming?"

"I've jotted down the conversations that I think will be important," Katt replied without looking up, "I also let her know her guardians are all right, and that all trace of damage done from Rath's insane tyranny was erased. No one even remembers Sylatone or the forbidden orbs being shattered. Everyone had been present for that." Bakura and Kaiba exchanged glances. Indeed, those two events had been the catalysts for the second phase of Rath's conspiracy against Sith. Everyone had been there.

"So the final verdict?" Kaiba asked her. Katt put her notebook down, and looked away for a second. Then, she stood and looked at Kaiba. She seemed sad.

"Whatever's happening has shifted the war that brought Rath into being. All signs of the Mystics' involvement just ceased. I think your world is your own again," she told him, "No magic, save for the power naturally formed in your world's heart." Relieving news, of course. But neither man knew what that could theoretically mean. Sith may have brought some very real problems with her, but she also protected their world, too. What would that mean about the things she fought off?

Unfortunately, not every monster in their world had come from the tears the wars had made. Sith couldn't fight everything off. Katt's response was simple: they'd have to learn to protect themselves. Kaiba's face blanched. That might be harder than he thought. Especially when Sith's guardians were split across more than one world. Granted, more than half of her guardians originated here. But that meant nothing when only one of those guardians actually fought alongside her on a regular basis.

"I'm guessing she won't be coming back to help clean up the future messes," Kaiba said glumly. Katt snorted, patting his shoulder. In many ways, Kaiba had been almost bi-polar toward Sith. He always acknowledged her, but never once thought of her as anything more than a slight annoyance.

"Isn't it funny how she won't want a repeat of what's happened?" Katt asked cheerfully. It felt almost mocking. Kaiba's eyes narrowed flatly.

"Then how are _we_ keeping contact with our own queen?" he demanded. Katt's brow arched. Bakura was also suspiciously quiet on the subject, as well.

"My guess is, you won't be," she told him. Kaiba's mouth dropped. Sith never said she wasn't coming back. At least, he couldn't remember her saying that. But when he looked over and saw Bakura's face, he knew he was probably the only one who hadn't heard her say this. He almost couldn't believe it.

"You knew," Kaiba said to the old thief, and his anger rose, "You all knew it! You knew she wasn't coming back!"

"We all knew it, Kaiba. Even you understood it," Bakura replied calmly, and looked up at him, "Why pretend to be so surprised? It's not like you got along with her particularly well." Kaiba's anger vanished. That was true. But it was like Ryou's initial reaction. It was shock; Sith had been around for a long time now. She'd been saying for years she'd leave eventually. He just didn't think _eventually_ meant _right now_.

Stuffing his hands into his pockets, Kaiba rocked on his heels and looked up at the ceiling. He wasn't sure what they should be doing now. Everything was like he wanted it. Casting his glance back down, he asked, "What becomes of us? Her guardians?" Katt finally put the notebook down. She looked up at him. For once, he actually looked genuinely disappointed. Had he accepted magic? If he had, it was ironic.

"You all live the way you wish," she said simply, putting the pen in her coat, "Nothing's changed for those whose hearts remember my sister and I. If you want to serve Sith, then serve Sith. If not, then don't. It's a simple decision, Kaiba." Maybe it was for her, but Kaiba felt like a two-sided coin. He had all of these memories he could never share with anyone except for Yugi, Ryou, Malik, and Ryuuzaki. He was friends with none of them.

He never thought he'd miss Sith being in his world. At least with her, he had no reason to get involved with magic. But without her, the fact that he had knowledge of its existence made him feel like he had to keep her work going. Evil never faded, and the troubles never ended. Sith always said as much, and Kaiba believed it. He knew it'd be true. Though the problems would never be big – Rath would never come back to slaughter his world – he knew there were threats to address. The imps, goblins, bandits, whatever-the-hell that came crawling out of the woodwork, would need some handling. After what they'd fought, he felt he could handle it. He came to a decision quickly.

"Do Espers believe in cell phones?" he asked pointedly. Katt grinned. Sith did, but she was _one_ Esper, and a damn smart one when it came to dealing with humans. She bought one as soon as she could afford it. And for very much the same reason Kaiba was asking about it.

"She's called you before. Luckily you have her number," the woman said cryptically. Kaiba took out his own phone and checked. He had it logged. Good. That made him feel marginally better. Unless, of course, the bastards by the ESB charged outrageous prices for outer-worldly calls.

"Tell her we're not even," Kaiba said to her, a smirk of his own forming, "She should expect a call from me in a couple of weeks."

"Need time to get used to your new profession?" Katt asked slyly, brow arched. Bakura looked from her, to Kaiba. He didn't understand what they were saying. Until, of course, Kaiba nodded. His smirk vanished. He was serious again.

"She's done good work. But it's never over. She always said she wanted someone to fight our battles without her. Now let's see if I can," Kaiba said grimly. Katt approved of the sentiment, and couldn't have been prouder of him. Bakura couldn't believe he had heard the man right. _Kaiba_ was going to take Sith's place? That was lunacy.

"You sure we shouldn't leave this to Ryuuzaki or Malik?" the thief asked incredulously. Kaiba snorted. He probably _could_ if he wanted. But Ryuuzaki had his own villains to fight, and Malik wouldn't be able to handle most of the technical parts of the job he was taking. He was the best choice.

"They'll help me out," the younger man said simply. Bakura whistled, shaking his head. It wasn't that he thought Kaiba was incapable of the monumental task he was setting for himself. He simply didn't know how much defense a human could make against supernatural forces. Straggling imps were one thing. If a demon ripped through the planes and started causing havoc, Kaiba was in a lot of trouble.

But that problem would be discussed when they reached it. Bakura patted Kaiba's back. That was it, then. Now he felt the matter should be brought up with the other guardians, with Ishtar, with Yami, and with Ryou and Yugi. Kaiba agreed, though he wasn't sure if he should interrupt the others' at Ryou's home. They were waiting for Sith to return, or for some sign that she either won, lost, or somehow ended up dead before the outcome could be decided. He'd hate to have one of them pounding his door down because his call postponed Sith's arrival. Bakura didn't blame him.

Next, there was Katt. Her report was done, and she had no business left in Domino. She packed her book in her backpack, and looked at them both. These were men who'd fought alongside her and Sith when they were needed. They'd lived for six years dealing with a struggle they couldn't control. In a lot of ways, Katt adopted them as her brothers, much like Sith had for Yugi, Malik, and in the end, Ryou as well. Quietly, she said, "I'll call you if Sith doesn't make it."

"What about Malik?" Kaiba asked her. Katt looked down. She hadn't given the poor man much thought. She hadn't wanted to, not when she knew Isis would never let Malik leave their world. But he was like Saix was to Sith. He was _hers_. He had been for years.

"I'll come back for him. I just need to know my sister and brother are alive," Katt told him. Kaiba understood. Then, he hugged Katt. He may not have liked her or her twin sister at all, but damn it, they'd done too much for this world. He felt like a child who still thought he needed his mother.

"I'll make sure he doesn't break down when I tell him," Kaiba promised, and let go of her, "You tell Sith to haul her ass here and say a proper goodbye, or I'll crash one of my copters into her castle." Katt promised to keep her end of the bargain. She could only imagine Sith's reaction if Kaiba kept his threat. The woman would probably be wondering just how Kaiba managed to find her, let alone why he'd try taking her out with a copter, and not something actually viable, like a dragon.

When the goodbyes were said, however, Fate reared her head once more. Katt was about to leave when something shook the ground so violently that it threw the entire building in upheaval. The tremors were like dealing with an earthquake, and the noise made Kaiba feel like he'd been standing right next to a cannon. The vibration alone made his bones rattle. Pots and pans smashed onto the marble floor, and he heard dishes crashing into each other, shattering on impact. He groaned. He just lost about one thousand dollars in dishware. Deciding to leave that mess for later, he gave Bakura a knowing look and made for the door. Bakura and Katt followed.

In the dining hall, the chaos was just a bit worse. Everyone was screaming, some grabbing the plates and food before it spilled onto the floor, others making for the windows to see what was happening beyond. Pushing his way through the frenzied maids, friends, and his own brother, Kaiba came to the closest window and looked out. He quickly wished he hadn't promised to take Sith's place. The skies overhead were thick with black clouds, though the sky itself was turning a deep red, the lining of the clouds shimmering like hellfire. The rumbling below didn't cease, and the pressure in the air made thunder crackle like the old hags in the old tales. Something was happening.

When a blast that rendered the sky forced an unholy howl across the land, the screaming of everyone in the background began to cease. They stopped their panic, turned to the windows and looked out. Slowly, the quake stopped, though the black clouds remained. The air was thick with an energy Kaiba couldn't understand. The wind, howling so loudly before, was nothing more than a faint breeze that barely blew the grass. Everyone exchanged glances. No one said a thing.

At least, not until Kaiba spoke. He turned to Katt and asked, "What, in the name of hell, was _that?_" Katt's eyes glinted as she pushed past him and looked at the clouds in the sky. It finally happened. She could feel it finally happened. The ring of oppression on this world simply burst.

"_That_ was what you just called it," she replied, and looked back at him, "That was _Hell breaking loose_."

"What does that even mean?" Kaiba demanded in frustration. Katt smiled weakly. The man had a feeling he knew what was coming next. Now he really wished he'd taken some time before deciding Sith's cause needed a revival. What happened next would fall entirely to him to handle. And he blamed no one but himself.

"That means it's time for you to do your job," the Esper told him frankly, all trace of mirth gone from her voice, "It's time to see what comes out of the abyss." Kaiba could only stare out after her.

Fate had decided on her victor. Now it was time for the worlds – all of them – to deal with what had been chosen. In the next few minutes, they could be looking at the Fallen Myth herself. Or they could be looking straight into the pits of hell. Fate loved to keep them waiting.

-(End Chapter)

Ryou's world is the way it should have been, and as he traverses the old streets, he sees that Oblivion has left his world relatively untouched in this strange, new reality. But magic never fades, and the legacy of the Winchester line has not ended yet. Now Ryou and his friends must wait to find what chapter Fate has written in the history of Oblivion. Will Sith emerge as a hero, as the slayer of the Lord of Madness? Or has Rath succeeded in annihilating the remaining heirs to the throne of Nesce? Find out next chapter, so click that Review button!


	29. Descent into Hell

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, Death Note, Castlevania, or Kingdom Hearts. Takahashi owns Yu-Gi-Oh, Ohba owns Death Note, Konami owns Castlevania, and Square-Enix owns Kingdom Hearts. Not one of them are happy that I'm still harassing them for the deeds.

The roars in the abyss were like nothing ever heard within the universe before. They caused ripples in the air, tears into the fabrics of space itself that threatened to destroy the plane of the Living in a matter of seconds if Oblivion's core did not hold. Explosions of nothingness rocked the realms as stars exploded and worlds of corruption crumbled and ceased to be. Darkness had once enveloped the scope of Oblivion and the millions of worlds it encompassed. It threatened to hold them in its death grip for eternity, to strangle and choke them until nothing but the husks of their former lives remained. It wanted to devour them, make them into a new, twisted horror that the Lord of Madness could see and admire. That she could control with her own power.

That darkness ended so abruptly that no world could ever understand it. The roars were blood-curdling, as they had been the first time. But evil never once won the war; it could only keep trying valiantly to destroy the good. But the roars stopped when the Blades of Mercy cut into the abomination that Rath had become, had severed the draconic head and Rath's torso, and had pierced Rath's heart so fully that she did not remain. The roars stopped, and with them died the threats and hatred they broadcast aloud. The stars stopped exploding. The worlds stopped dying. Rath's heart stopped beating. Her world simply ceased to exist.

In the end, her own darkness devoured her, enveloping her in a black mist and dissolving her skin as though that mist were acid. She tried to scream. No words came out. Just more of that dead-mist that silenced her pain forever. In the end, she stopped screaming. She looked just before her vision turned to ash. And she saw who the victor had been. Her own cousin. Her flesh and blood. The very woman she had set out to destroy, who had inadvertently taken everything she wanted. That woman was not smiling, though. As her doubles faded back into nothing, as she stood holding her bloodied blade, that woman merely looked down at the dying Lord. Her eyes were wet. Tears burned her cheeks.

It was not a death Rath wanted, yet she let it consume her quietly. She deserved to die, and she knew it would be at the hands of that very woman. She closed her mouth, and closed her eyes. As the rest of her body disappeared into nothing, she smiled. Fate had been bested and had chosen her ill-ignored choice. Now the terrible prophecy controlling her family was done. It ended with her.

Sith Winchester had finally won, and now Oblivion could rest easy.

Pinnacle's Core had shaken so violently that Falnika was nearly thrown from her seat, atop the single mountain that made up the tiny fragment of what had once been the Ghestalian Empire. The tremor lasted only a few moments. When it settled down, Falnika took a deep breath, looked over the edge from her seat. She could see nothing below; golden clouds obscured her view of the universe.

But the feeling she had was unmistakable. Something had happened. Something terrible yet wondrous at the same time. It was as if a great weight had been destroyed, leaving the worlds lighter than they had been for millennia. A battle had been fought, and if she guessed, it had been concluded recently.

"What on earth could that have been?" she asked herself, tilting her head. Then, she took out a globe and looked within it. The last time she had used it was just before Rath had sent Atma's Heartless to try and dispose of Sith. It took a minute for the image to fade. When it did, the globe became cloudy and gray.

"Show me the Fallen Myth," she whispered, "Show me Sith Winchester." The globe, at first, did not respond. Falnika's worry grew. Then, slowly, the globe showed black and red clouds, swirling in the empty abyss. Three blades were shining brightly; only an outline of the wielder could be seen. But that outline seemed to fade. The figure itself seemed to be kneeling, and then to fall to the ground.

"Sith…" Falnika was doubly worried now. That sight wasn't good. Sith had won, but she was still in the abyss. And her strength was fading. Falnika vanished the globe, shook her head. Rath made way too much of a mess, and like the bitch-goddess she was, she left it for everyone else to clean up.

Falnika looked up into the golden sky and asked, "Well, Fate, you had your little game. What will you do now? Is it Sith's fate to perish so soon after her victory?" No… it wouldn't be so simple. Sith had worked too hard to just fall. She must just be exhausted. If that was so, she'd need help picking up the pieces.

Falnika stood up. She knew what she had to do and where she had to go. Death was looming, but it wasn't Sith's time to die. Nor was it Saix's. Fate hadn't brought them together to just laugh at them and tear them both apart. Now was the time to see what a newly-formed Goddess was capable of. Now she'd see how much of Dihanna's power she inherited.

The castle was nearly knocked sideways from the terrible blasts of energy. The walls took considerable damage – great, yet still repairable. Some of the upper windows had shattered. In the main hall, six of the twenty two great pillars crumbled to dust. The furniture had been upturned, books had been strewn about, and the dirt hiding in the many nooks and crannies came crawling out as the ruckus took full hold of the World that Never Was. In short, whatever happened just left a nice, little mess for Xemnas to clean up.

Dusks scattered as Xemnas walked to the balcony on the top floor. He stopped, looked up at the giant, pink heart floating high above, higher than even the castle could reach. That heart, his Kingdom Hearts, took terrible damage from the tumult of power. In fact, it nearly shattered. It _should_ have shattered. But it still stood. It was still pulsing. It simply was missing a few hundred hearts.

"Not too bad a casualty, eh?" Xemnas turned to find Xigbar and Xaldin had followed him. Xigbar walked over, stood next to his boss. He also looked up at the heart, though unlike Xemnas, he was grinning, "Got to hand it to Sith. For an old lady, she's kicking."

"I'm surprised the heart's still up there. I was sure we'd lose it," Xaldin commented, tapping his chin as he looked up. Xemnas said nothing for a long moment. To him, what happened was still a mystery. He knew where Sith and Saix had disappeared to. But the latter should've returned by now. He had no idea if Saix was even alive.

"Someone else was sacrificed so we could keep Kingdom Hearts," Xemnas said quietly. Xaldin and Xigbar exchanged glances.

"Saix," Xaldin said bitterly. Xemnas glanced at him, and nodded. It was true. Saix had defected, after all. No… ever since Ryou and Rath's intervention with time, Saix had never truly been the same. Sith should never have met him right as he was initiated as a Nobody. His mind had never let go of her. Part of him had wanted to go and find her.

"I am not surprised," Xemnas finally said, and looked at them both squarely, "I've always felt something was… not quite right in Saix. His want for a heart was beyond anything he should have 'felt."

"It's that damned Esper!" Xaldin snapped unhappily, crossing his arms. He spat, eyes narrowed angrily, "She, who was once our ally, has cost us far too much. She has outlived her usefulness." Xigbar didn't agree. He snorted, causing some of his friend's fury to turn on him. But it didn't phase him in any way.

"Now, now, don't get bitchy just because Berserker Boy found someone before you did," Xigbar said to him mockingly, "It's not his fault he's still good-looking." Xaldin snarled, and would have gone after the patch-eyed bastard. But Xemnas turned to them both, and his glare told them bickering would only make him angrier. Both of his men wisely stepped back.

Turning back out over the city, Xemnas let out a sigh. He knew he'd have to hunt Saix down eventually, but he wasn't sure he blamed the man for looking for Sith. He wasn't sure he even blamed Sith for allying with them at all. "I believe it's best to consider recruiting some new members," he said quietly. Xaldin and Xigbar stared at him, and then glanced at each other. That would inevitably become _their_ job.

"You are… serious?" Xaldin asked, as Xigbar moaned and said, "Oh joy of joys. More crying brats to train."

"There are ways to restore a heart, but there will always be people who have not found theirs," Xemnas said to them both, looking back up at the remains of the giant heart. If they didn't hurry, they might really lose the last nine years of work. Damn it, Sith really did do a lot of collateral damage.

"So… we take them until they find their heart, and then we let 'em go?" Xigbar asked. Xemnas snorted. That was a rather plain way of putting it. He could _try_, of course, to keep them all under his control. But nothing had stopped Saix. And truth to tell, he was getting too old to want to control an entire metropolis of crying, screaming Nobodies who never listened to him, anyway.

"Why not?" Xemnas asked him, without turning around. Xigbar said nothing more. Then, he whistled, turned back toward the door, and went back inside. That left Xaldin alone with Xemnas.

Xaldin joined Xemnas at the rail, and they both looked up into the sky. They no longer focused on the heart, anymore. Now, they were looking at the stars. So many of them had burned out in just seconds. The sky looked far too black for their comfort. How many worlds had crumbled just now? How many more will continue to die? Quietly, Xaldin asked, "So we let the Luna Diviner go his own way? Is that wise?"

"It is no one's place to say," Xemnas said to him, and looked up at the bigger man, "I could easily drag Saix back here and remind him of his loyalty to me. I simply won't."

"Why not?" Xaldin asked him. Xemnas let out a sigh. There were millions of reasons why he wouldn't go after Saix. He was too tired. Saix was too stubborn. No one liked Saix. The headaches were too much to merit it worthy. He could've used those. But that wouldn't have been the truth. Instead, he pointed into the distance, to a star that had burned out within the first split-second.

"I don't want to start a war with her," Xemnas said simply, and smiled, "Sith may be old. Her magic is dwindling, no doubt. But her prowess in battle is barely tarnished. If I were to take Saix, do you honestly believe she would sit idly by?" Xaldin frowned. He knew she wouldn't. Artemis and Victor would be the main reasons for her insanity when she arrived at their doorstep.

"I still don't believe in this _future_ they fought so valiantly to protect," he muttered unhappily. Xemnas chuckled. It was a sound neither had expected him to make. And it sounded genuine. Quite a task for a Nobody, to say the least.

"We need not believe," Xemnas said in amusement, and the corners of his mouth twitched, "We simply need to know it will happen. _Has_ happened, if Saix is conscious." Xaldin's eyes widened. That couldn't have been possible. Saix had been nearly dead; they all felt his energy plummet. Sith was no better. It couldn't have happened!

"Don't tell me he's already done it!" Xaldin cried frantically. Xemnas's mouth actually turned in a grin. That made Xaldin's anguish even worse. That was far more than he needed to know Saix had done what he wanted to stop.

Turning to the door back inside, Xemnas flashed Xaldin a knowing grin and said, "We may as well go and give them both our blessings." Then, he disappeared, leaving Xaldin alone. Xaldin could scarcely believe it. He had thought he'd broken Saix enough to keep him from ever wanting to see Sith again. He failed. Xemnas failed. Now, they'd pay the consequences for centuries. He shook his head.

"I can't _wait_ to see the children," he commented sarcastically, rubbing his face before he walked in after his master. This day, he decided, was only going to get better. There was no way it could've possibly been worse.

The roars were like nothing any of them had ever heard in their lives. The maids were soon scattered into a terrifying flurry as they dropped trays, plates, and whatever they held in their hands as they bolted for the doors. Miho, Anzu, Honda, and Jou dove for the table as Yugi and Ryou went for the hallway. Kaiba followed with Katt, knowing exactly what had just happened – despite Katt not even telling him the full details! The four of them went to the door, found it blocked by furniture that had been toppled. Kaiba cursed. That was the only way out, save for the windows. And he wasn't in the mood to try his luck.

To make matters worse, the power was cutting out. Lights sparked and died inside of the mansion, causing another round of exclamations for anyone who came too close. Kaiba looked at Katt frantically. A fire spell would've been nice, but she couldn't reveal much more than she already had. Sith had worked too hard to keep magic under control. Katt and Kaiba owed it to her to not screw it up in the first few minutes.

Kaiba ran to the closest desk and pulled out a flashlight. It flickered at first; he hadn't used it in years. But it provided enough to at least allay the initial wave of horror. When the startled cries died down, he looked around and quietly asked, "Is anyone hurt?" No one looked it, but he knew some scars were not physical.

"What… what the hell was that?" Jou asked, as he and Anzu slowly crawled out from under the dining table, "An earthquake, and then… a wildfire?"

"Don't worry about it," Kaiba told him, though he knew very well what that was. It was far more than mere magic. That was – and damn him for saying it! – Fate finally playing her hand. That was Fate telling the world she'd had enough of stalling. Kaiba hoped Fate had an avatar he could scream at, when he saw to it that the survivors of the assault were well.

"H-how's the city looking, Seto?" Mokuba asked him, which might've been the most sensible thing to ask. Kaiba didn't speak. He didn't know. Instead, he went from the blocked door to the closest window, and looked out.

The Apocalypse looked like it finally descended. Not in the 'destroy everything in sight' sort of way; the city was still standing, and nothing had been destroyed, from what he could see. But he also considered that the city was far sparser without magic. There was barely anything left to destroy. Instead, replacing the usual destruction was a thick, red haze that seeped through the ground. Large cracks, some splitting enough to rival the River Blitz, covered the earth. The roads, he guessed, were torn and ultimately unusable. All in all, the casualties were low. But the morale damage would be great.

"Your sister's going to be pissed," he whispered to Katt, when she came to join him. Katt's ears drooped. Pissed would be taking Sith lightly.

"At least she won't have an army of Mystics to contend with when she arrives," Katt reminded him, trying to be cheerful about it. But Kaiba was not fooled. Underneath the false cheer was the very really worry that Sith might _not_ come back. That was one hell of a finale from Rath. In any case, Kaiba at least doubted Rath survived it, even if Sith did not.

"Should I phone the other guardians?" he asked her, but Katt shook her head. There was, in her mind, little point. The blasts rocked the entire world.

"Unless they were blind, deaf, and already dead, I think they know already," she said simply. Kaiba frowned. He had to do something. He already promised to take Sith's place. Now he had to keep that promise. But what the hell was he supposed to do?

Sitting around wasn't it. He took a breath, and called Ryou and Yugi over. He had to go and see what was going on with the rend in the abyss. That was the first thing his predecessor would have done. To keep the peace in his own house, he asked Yugi to stay and make sure things didn't get too out of hand. Yugi, though wanting to see Sith, agreed to it. Ryou was ineffectual with calming people down; he knew he had to step up and do it. As for Ryou, Kaiba told him to come along. He wasn't a guardian, but he deserved to see what had happened to his own house.

When it was agreed upon, Kaiba wished Yugi luck. Then, he looked at the group huddled under his dining room table, and he said, "All right, I'm going to go out and see what damage was done. Jou, I want you and your idiot friend to go and see if you can unblock the damn hallway. Anzu, I'll be back. Try not to worry too much." He received nods to indicate he had been understood. He didn't stay to see if his orders rang true. He was in the hall before Anzu could even say goodbye.

When he and Ryou were out of eyesight, they both broke out into a run for the door. Neither had said a word, but even without magic in their veins, they felt the unmistakable pulse of darkness. It died, slowly, but it didn't spell good news. It couldn't have. Kaiba heaved open the front doors, and was hit full force with blasts of heat. He nearly choked. The smoke outside was strong.

"Lords of Zellos! Hell really did break loose," Kaiba roared over the smoke, falling back into the house, "Good gods, what has that Esper done?"

"Can we get out?" Ryou asked him, helping him to his feet. Kaiba coughed, trying to get fresh air into his lungs. Before he could speak, Katt came running from nowhere and threw a gust of wind straight through the doorway. The cloud of smoke was torn apart, and the heat thinned out a bit. But the haze remained.

"With me on your side, you can," she said, looking at them both, "My sister… something must've happened. Sith wouldn't unleash this!" Ryou and Kaiba exchanged glances. That was a faithful claim. But it was blind. Sith _would_ do it, albeit unknowingly. Kaiba wouldn't put it past her to do it purposely, if she was furious enough.

"Katt, we don't know what happened. We can't be sure," Ryou said to her gently. Katt's face went pale, and her eyes watered. She grew disheartened. She wanted to believe so badly that Rath had been defeated. She wanted to believe Sith would come back as the hero. She shook her head to disperse the tears.

"Sith wouldn't do this!" she insisted. Ryou looked down. He didn't want to think she did, either. But between Rath and Sith, only one of them lived. And though the worlds groaned, they didn't vanish. That said something.

"Katt…" Ryou began gently. But Katt's tears were already falling. He looked at Kaiba helplessly. But the older man was just as flustered. He had no idea what to say to an Esper hit with Sorrow's poison.

Looking out over the smoky field, Kaiba said, "The only way to prove the nightmares wrong is to go out and see for ourselves. We're not cowards. Let's go." He took Katt's arm, and led her out of the house. The ground felt dry, but it would hold them easily. No one was going to fall into Hell. As he led her to the street, Kaiba glanced back to make sure Ryou was following. He was. Good. He was being smart.

Now all that was left, aside from making sure demons didn't pop out of the cracks to kill them, was to get to Ryou's house alive. Armed with only a pistol, and an Esper whose magic might wane, and knowing they'd be facing scorching heat and suffocating smoke, Kaiba had a feeling he might be in over his head. He was all right with those odds. He kept walking, sometimes dragging Katt alongside him.

He'd dealt with far worse. Sith had dealt with far worse. This was nothing to either of them now.

The portal had appeared out of nowhere, and though none of the guardians could explain why it blew up in Ryou's house, they all knew what that sign meant. Oblivion was ready to spit something out. But, for some reason, as they all stood in the living room, nothing came out of the portal. They waited for several minutes, wondering if Sith had simply slowed down to help Saix. But there was no sign of the Esper, no sign of the demon. So, they waited just a moment longer. Once again, nothing happened. Aeon, the leader of the pack, lowered his clock blade. This was wrong.

Taking a breath, and setting his jaw, the white-haired time-keeper stalked toward the portal. It was a swirling mass of purple, barely substantial enough to admit something through. But even at a distance, he felt it try to suck his power right out of his body. He'd have to be careful to avoid being thrown in. He turned to the others and said, "It should have closed." It also should have brought Sith back by then.

"Where the hell is she?" Ryuuzaki demanded, not missing that point at all. But that was the one question none of them could answer. None of them even knew what happened, or if Sith had been the one to cause the silent whisperings of Death. Aeon glanced at the portal again. Their answers would lie through it.

"Oblivion," he whispered, frowning slightly, "Still trapped. Possibly dead, even." The other guardians all glanced at each other, some with worry, others with simple bewilderment. Sith? Dead? That couldn't be right. The world surely would have been cast into eternal night. Mello shook his head.

"I don't buy it," he said to them, tapping his boots on the table, "Wouldn't we have felt it? We're connected to her through magic."

"Magic's waning, Mello," Matt reminded him quietly, his goggles glinting off of the light from the fireplace. Mello's eyes widened as he glared at his friend. Even if that were true, there was still enough to know whether or not Sith was _alive_. Yet, Matt said, "If it isn't, why can't we be sure?" Mello's brows creased and his teeth clenched. That was a damn good question to ask. No matter how much he didn't want to admit it, not one of them could be certain there'd even be remains of her to find.

"There has to be a way," Mello finally said, when he couldn't find an argument to make. He turned directly to Aeon, and there was that intense fire in his eyes again, "There has to be some way to get to her. Aeon, tell me there is." Aeon looked down, not wanting to do it. There was one, of course. But it was the one way that might land them right into Hell. He personally had no reason to ever face the demons of Hell again.

He couldn't ignore the question forever. The others were waiting for him. Sighing, Aeon leaned on his clock-blade and said, "There is one." The guardians once again exchanged glances. Then, Ryuuzaki spoke up again.

"Then why the hell aren't we taking it?" he asked, his voice low. Aeon swallowed hard. He didn't want to admit that the reason was simply because he was scared. He was, by all accounts, immortal. Not even the high lords of Hell could take him down. But that didn't mean he couldn't be wounded. He'd been wounded on several thousand occasions. But on all of them, Sith had healed him. He didn't have that blessing now.

"Because it requires going into that portal and possibly never coming back out again," Aeon told them all flatly, and it was clear he wasn't up for the task. But, to his dismay, no one objected to it. No one offered any fears or worries. No one even tried to run away from that thought. They all sat there, staring at him.

He couldn't understand human stupidity. In his thousands of years of life, there were three things Aeon never quite 'got,' in terms of understanding. One of them was, unsurprisingly, women; the one woman he seemed to be with the most was the daughter of a demon Prince to the throne of Nesce. The second was the idea that coffee could be decaffeinated. To him, the whole point of the drink was to wake you up and _keep_ you up. The third – and this was the most prominent, since Sith rightfully could explain the other two – was stupidity. He just couldn't understand it, no matter how many examples of it he'd been forced to see. And now he knew he'd see it again. None of the other guardians seemed to understand the complications with _throwing themselves into the Abyss._ To him, that was stupidity to a tee. Especially when Basch said, "And what stops us from this?"

"Common sense," Matt said with a grin, and Aeon knew whatever he was about to say was the stupidest thing of all, "But I never had that anyway, so I'm game."

"May as well. It's not like there's much else in the city anymore," Ryuuzaki added. Though he was intent on living out his words, no one missed the sadness in his tone. And they didn't blame him. When they'd finally woken up from the beating Sith gave them in Nesce, they'd come out to find that Domino was no longer like they really remembered it. And most of them tolerated it just because it was how the world should've been. But none of them liked it.

Yet Aeon found himself growing grumpier. The cost was high, but he found the other guardians were as loyal to Sith as he was. None of them balked at Ryuuzaki's words, or his own. He just stared, dumbfounded. Then, he shook his head, and laughed. He should've known. "I'm to guess we all agree we're jumping," he said. Most of the other guardians smiled, but none of them were the ones to provide the ultimate answer. In their focus over the portal, no one noticed the limousine that had pulled into the otherwise empty driveway.

"The only thing stopping any of us is the fact that you're in the way," Kaiba grumbled, as he, Ryou, and Katt walked in through the front door. The other guardians turned, and Aeon's mouth dropped. As far as he knew, Kaiba had been intent on staying home.

"Now it's a party," Mello commented slyly, grinning at Kaiba. The new trio entered the living room, and Ryou looked up at the large portal that took over the one wall of the room. He never thought he'd see one of them again, though the sight was less than comforting. He looked over at Mello and Aeon. To him, they were the lead guardians of the group.

"She hasn't come out yet?" he asked. Aeon shook his head slowly, and Ryou could see the worry etched into the older man's face. Clearly, he expected Sith to have returned by now. Ryou swallowed hard, trying to keep his own fears down. That didn't seem like a good thing to him. He said, "What are you waiting for? You're her guardians, you have to find her!" He was a tad harsher than he meant to be, but his intentions were good. Aeon's lips thinned and he nodded. He turned back to that swirling eye, glaring at him like some grand foe. He summoned Mello and Malik to his sides.

When they were gathered, he glanced at them both and said, "Oblivion may be unstable due to the large forces of magic that were used. We find Sith, and we leave. Nothing more." Mello nodded his assent, but Malik was less enthusiastic. They had forgotten one thing.

"What about Saix?" he asked them quizzically, and when Mello's face blanched, Malik added, "You know she'll be pissed if we bring her back without him." Aeon sighed, rubbing his face. Damn it, Sith was going to be stubborn about this, too. Even unconscious, he could imagine her extreme displeasure of waking up and finding out her guardians decided to ditch Saix. She'd waited long enough for a husband. She'd kill them – starting with Aeon – if they took the one she was going to have away.

"Fine," the time-keeper said tiredly, hefting his clock-blade onto his shoulder, "We find Sith, and then we find Saix." Malik just smiled. That was all he asked for.

Magic was unstable, and it was evident by how shaky the corridor of darkness that connected them to Oblivion's core was. The walls wobbled unsteadily, sometimes seeming to fizzle out entirely, only to reform a second before the tunnel collapsed. Katt and Aeon didn't skimp on their spells here; they both used as much wind and time magic as they could to speed the ride up. Still, Ryou noted that the energetic traces coming off of them were far less potent now, especially on Katt. How long until their magic faded from his world forever?

They flew out of the tunnel and landed on cracked, dry earth. The sudden noise and the brightness of the eternal red haze surrounding the abyss made Ryou's head spin as he left the cold tunnel and came into a land of unbearable heat. The roar of the wind and fire around them drowned most everything out. Ryou found he was lucky to hear even his own thoughts. He couldn't possibly imagine how it was Sith bared this. It was already driving him insane.

Aeon took the lead and silently led his team forward. They found the roaring wind was temporary and periodic, sometimes flaring up to create a sonic barrier throughout the hellish realm, sometimes dying down to produce a quiet that spelled far worse than death. As they walked, Ryou looked toward the sides, saw that what they stood on was simply a small island. A sea of fire spread far and wide on either sides, occasionally dotted with small islands similar to his. He frowned. And he hoped they found their friends soon.

The island was not big. It was less than half a mile long, and was formed in a rough triangle; they were heading right toward the narrow point. There was no sign of Sith or Saix. Ryou wiped his forehead – the heat was worse as they came closer to the edges of the island – and sighed. He had hoped this would be quick. When they came within fifteen feet of the fiery sea, they stopped. Ryuuzaki bent down, picked up a scrap of something and held it up. It was blue cloth with a smudge of yellow at the top.

"This came off Sith's coat," he said grimly, showing it to Aeon, Mello, and then to Katt and Kaiba, "Smells a bit like her, too." Kaiba looked at it. It was, miraculously, still in one piece. There were no burns anywhere in it. But there were drops of blood. Red blood. It had to be Saix's, as both Sith and Rath had blue and black blood respectively.

"So then, where is she?" Malik asked, as Kaiba handed the piece to Ryou to examine. Kaiba shrugged, and Ryuuzaki couldn't answer. Theoretically, she could have been anywhere. At the very least, she wasn't anywhere near the portal. The fact that they thought she would be was simply wishful thinking.

Knowing that only Aeon or Katt would know anything about Oblivion's core, Ryou looked at them both and asked how big the realm was, and how deep they thought Sith would go to get Rath. Both of their answers were generally the same: the abyss was endless, and Sith would go as far as she had to, if she had to. At best, Aeon said, she would be on an island only a few miles away. At worst, she fell into the lava and was incinerated. He didn't like those odds. But he respected that they were there.

Getting across the fire was something only a few of them could do. It wasn't wise to split up, not in a realm easily accessible to demons and far worse. When it was obvious Sith was elsewhere, Aeon took out his pocket-watch. He had a way for them all to cross. It would cost him, but he had it, and would use it for her. Murmuring a few words, there was a blast of magic that, while they all felt it, seemed to have done nothing. At first. Then, Ryou noticed the air was no longer nearly as warm. The sea had stopped, was cooling. And when he looked back at the portal, it was frozen in time. He knew what Aeon had just done.

"How much will you have to pay for that?" he asked quietly, looking up at the time-keeper. Aeon put his clock away, looked over, and smiled weakly. It was a price he and Sith knew too well.

"Too much," Aeon said simply. It was cryptic, but Ryou knew better than to press further. Turning back to the sea, Aeon added, "Come now. My spell won't last forever." And he stepped right into – no! _Onto!_ – the lava, heading to the adjacent island.

The second island was larger, but barer. Whereas the first island was dotted occasionally with rocky towers and uneven patches of land, the second island was flat, dull. They could see everything, laid out so nicely on the hazy field. Including, to Ryou's relief, the silhouettes of several figures standing around in a tight circle. But when he went to run over, to call to them, Mello was the first one to stop him. Ryou quickly found himself stumbling backwards. And cursing every obscenity he could think of. Even if he and Mello were on the same side now, the blow hit him hard.

Rubbing his aching head, Ryou grumbled, "You mind telling me what _that_ was for?" Mello sneered at him, and Ryou saw him tapping the gun at his hip. He was half-expecting to be eating a bullet by then.

"You've been with Sith enough to know you don't just run over to potential enemies," Mello said to him firmly, and crossed his arms as he tilted his head curiously. Ryou followed his gaze; it went right to those very silhouettes. Quietly, as if to keep from being heard, Mello continued, "I wonder who they are, and what they're doing here. Normal mortals can't enter Oblivion, not without being torn up."

"But _we're_ here," Ryou pointed out, slowly standing and dusting the earth off of his shirt. Mello glanced over, his brow arched. He looked amused. Ryou didn't like that look. It normally told him he was being an idiot.

"When you look at it, Ryou, most of us aren't 'normal' mortals," Mello told him, and smirked, gesturing to the group at large, "As guardians, we're highly tuned to the magical energies coming through our worlds. We have a bit more resistance to the natural danger inherent in magic." Ryou hummed, nodding. All of them had been through the mill enough to know how to defend themselves against almost anything.

Most of them also knew how to identify potential threats. Ryou caught Ryuuzaki's attention, and when the detective came over, Ryou pointed to the silhouettes with his chin and whispered, "What do you make of them?" Ryuuzaki was rarely stumped when it came to profiling; he'd been in Domino's police force since he turned seventeen. But he was sourly flummoxed. His mouth slanted, and he subconsciously tapped his arm as he thought. He looked flustered.

Without going any closer, he couldn't be sure. After a long moment of frustration, he finally said, "I can't tell. They're all powerful, but their alignments are clouded by worry. Worry? Maybe fear. It's hard to sort out without getting closer." Ryou looked at Mello expectantly, and the older man sighed with resignation. This wasn't the time to go rushing into a trap. But Mello had no support. Everyone else was waiting for him to make the inevitable choice, as well.

"You all are tying my damn hands here! We should be thinking about Sith's safety, not about a couple of bums who found their way into Hell," Mello said vehemently, but when he saw his bluster got him nowhere, he sighed again and held up his hands in surrender, "All right, all right, _fine_. We'll go over and see who these fools are. But we're doing it _my_ way. We're not giving them a chance to flee or attack."

"Isn't that harsh? We don't even know if they'll attack us yet," Katt said to him. But when he looked at the woman, there was a look to his eye. Katt knew that look. It was the same look Sith had, when Mello was finally able to get her out and away from his gang. Terror, mixed with the knowledge of how a backstab and an ambush worked. Both of which cost Mello his left eye.

"We do this my way or we never find your sister," he threatened quietly, and Katt backed away, knowing he was speaking truth, "For all we know, those bastards killed her, which would explain why we can't feel her magic. Magic only disperses when killed with _magic_. Killed with normal weapons, it fizzles and does absolutely nothing." Katt swallowed hard, thoroughly shaken. She had never once considered Sith had been murdered. She thought Rath's followers had fled the instance Rath unleashed Hell.

"What's the plan?" she asked, trying to keep her voice from shaking. Mello's otherwise grim visage softened. He hated to admit it, but being in the mafia taught him how to intimidate people into seeing things his way. Katt's weak point was always her twin. Perhaps that was the only flaw the two had; they'd die for the other in a second if pushed to it.

That didn't mean Mello had to like it. He frowned, gathered the others, and when they formed a circle around him, he said, "We split in three teams. Aeon, you take Katt and wait for us in the air. Ryuuzaki, take Ryou and Matt. Head for the long way around the island. I'll take Kaiba and Basch, and we'll nail them first." Since no one had any other ideas, no one decided to object. After all, Mello had been Sith's lover before most of them showed up. He had been in the mafia, as well. There was a reason he survived both with only minimal scarring.

They followed the plan exactly as Mello had described it. They cut off all attempts for the silhouettes to flee, each team gaining slightly with just enough stealth for their assumed foes to not notice their approach. It was a good, silent, solid tactic, one that helped Mello survive the rough patch of tyranny Kira had instilled in his world. And it would have been perfect, if the silhouettes had any intention of hurting them, or of running away. But life, as everyone in that scorched and tortured realm knew, was rarely so simple or so easy. There were always intricate details to throw them off.

One of those details were that most of the silhouettes belonged to Organization XIII. Another was that what they were huddling over was Sith, supported by – or perhaps supporting – Saix. Mello hadn't expected it. Neither had Ryuuzaki. But when they saw the woman, they came to an abrupt halt. And they stared at her, wide-eyed and somewhat confused. Her energy didn't register; they had thought the worst. But it wasn't hard to see why. She was barely conscious. Saix wasn't conscious at all.

"S-Sith!" Mello called, almost unable to believe the sight he saw. Sith stared up at him. Her eyes were red – damn it, she looked so old for once. Her hair was limp around her face, and her skin was far paler than it should've been, looking almost white in the glowing lava. She may have won, but it cost her most of her life force. It seemed to, anyway.

"I've won," she said solemnly, her voice deeper than he remembered, "She's dead. Finally dead. Never coming back." It was hard to understand her; she was too tired to speak correctly and her annunciations were slurred. Zexion helped her up, administered a potion Ryou did not want to identify. She coughed and sputtered – god, it tasted awful! But she did feel somewhat stronger. Strong enough to face her guardians.

The first one she faced was inevitably Mello. As soon as he knew she was strong enough to stand on her own, he put his hands on her shoulders… and he shook her. "Damn it, you stupid woman! What were you thinking!" he screamed at her, "You have any idea the worry you put me through? Any of us through!" Sith let him shake her until he feared her head might fall off. She simply smiled dully. That potion better not have affected her intelligence, Mello decided, or Zexion would die in the next few minutes.

"I was thinking about keeping Rath from unleashing hell, and throwing us into it," she told him honestly, though by her blank stare, he wasn't sure she even knew what she was answering. Or even saying. She was being too sarcastic for a nearly dead woman.

"Aeon…" Mello growled, looking back to find the time-keeper waiting for his command, "Damn it, you talk to her. I have a feeling I might accidentally kill her." He let go of Sith and stormed away toward the edge of the island. He was sulking, and Ryou could understand why.

Sighing, and knowing how futile his words might be, Aeon came up and said, "You scared us all, Sith. You…"

"I'm not in the mood for a lecture," Sith said simply, and the momentary lapse seemed to have left her. Now, her eyes blazed too much for a nearly dead woman, though the slurring hadn't completely cured itself yet, "I've done the impossible, damn it. What did you all want me to do? Call you?" She heard Kaiba snort, and ignored it. And judging by how Malik and Ryuuzaki looked away, she guessed half of them did expect such a thing.

"If only to find out what happened afterward," Ryou put in, and everyone turned to him. Obviously, no one expected him to say anything. They were going to be surprised. Sith looked at him squarely, tilting her head as if to tell him to continue. He did so. "It isn't pretty. Domino isn't even half the shell it used to be."

"It's… that bad?" Sith whispered, and now she was genuinely shocked. Ryou nodded. She looked at her other guardians; they nodded as well. Blinking, not sure what could have happened, she asked, "What happened? Is Domino still standing?"

"It is, but it's not the same," Malik told her, "Not many people left, not many buildings left. It's almost like the Apocalypse did fall, just without many casualties." Never mind that there weren't many casualties to be had any longer. Sith's mouth fell open. Even after all of that work, even after making sure Rath was destroyed, destruction still rippled through the worlds. She hadn't saved anything at all. Fate let her win, but Fate also just flipped her off and said 'fuck you.'

"This will never end…" she grumbled unhappily. Ryou patted her shoulder. She felt weak.

"Sith, this isn't your fault. It could have been worse," he tried to tell her. And she would've believed him, if she hadn't known better. Could it have been worse? Well, yes. Oblivion could have simply _ended_. But it certainly wasn't good. The threads holding the worlds together only grew weaker with Rath's death, not stronger. Sith couldn't understand it.

"What did I miss?" she asked, looking from Ryou, to the other guardians, to her sister, and even to Xemnas. The last one smiled, chuckled a bit as he walked to her and put his hands on her shoulders. Ryou saw Mello go for his gun. The man was smart enough to not fire yet.

"Not all bonds are made of light," Xemnas said to her, as she stared blankly at him, "The ones Rath made were twisted and vile, boring through worlds and spreading darkness and plague wherever she wished. They infected the bonds created from light."

"And when I removed them, I weakened everything," Sith concluded flatly, and Xemnas nodded. She sighed helplessly. Then, she threw her sword and it struck the rock, severing it in two. Furiously, she asked, "What was the goddamned point of any of it! To watch the universe fall apart!" Her fury scared everyone. No one wanted to approach her. No one knew what to even say.

That's why gods existed, though. To say the things and teach the things no one wanted to do. And while there was nothing to teach Sith right now, there were things to be said that she'd have to hear. Falnika was willing to say them, and when she finally managed to make it into the Endless Abyss, she said them. "The universe has centuries before it comes to that, Sith," the former Mystic told her, and she turned quickly, "But it will happen eventually." She was as Sith remembered her – same brown hair and same tattered, blue gown. Her expression was far gentler. She looked as she had thousands of years ago.

"Falnika, I thought I was supposed to _save_ Oblivion!" Sith cried desperately, quite unsure of what to say, "I've destroyed it. All of it. I'm no better than Rath!" Falnika's smile grew weak. That was in no way what happened. She sighed, laid her hands on Sith's shoulder.

"This would have happened regardless of who won," Falnika told her gently, and looked over at the portal they'd all come from. It was shivering. She had to speak quickly, "Sith, Oblivion has been unstable since the beginning of time. It will collapse, one day, but not by your hands. All you did was keep it from collapsing into darkness, bringing forth only death and destruction."

"Fat lot of good that'll do me," Sith mumbled unhappily. Darkness or not, the world was going to end soon enough. She may as well have farted the battle out. But only she felt that way, and only because she had wanted things so vastly different.

"Sith, stop it," Ryou said to her, and she stared, "You've done your part: you've killed Rath. None of the Espers ever said you'd save Oblivion, because you can't. But you can save yourself. Your prophecy ended, but we still need you. Oblivion still needs Sith Winchester." Sith's hostility faded. She knew he was right. Even on the fringe of death, people would need her. She would still be the one the darkness would fear.

"Besides, there is still the matter of Saix," Xemnas reminded her, and she blushed, "If I'm not mistaken, he's told you to marry him. I doubt he would let you forsake that for self-pity." The grin he wore told him he was amused with the news, and had known about it. The look on everyone else… well, they'd have to deal with it _now_.

"_What!_" came the collective exclamation. Sith felt small with so many pairs of eyes looking down at her. Quietly, Matt asked, "He _told_ you? He didn't even propose properly?" Sith looked down. To them, he hadn't. To her, he had asked, she had said yes. A ceremony would be a formality.

Quietly, she took out a pin – it was a simple crescent moon. To the others, it was unremarkable. She said, "This was his, when he had his heart. He told me 'I can't get you a ring yet, but I want you to have it until I can.' It's good enough for me. A ring is only symbolic. It's the bond we make on it that matters. Why not make it on a pin?" Now Xaldin understood how Saix had proposed in the last second. It was poetic. He looked down at the smaller Nobody.

"And so you're married now," Xaldin said. Sith nodded, put the pin back in her pocket. Until they were out of Oblivion, she wouldn't wear it. At least, not until Mello snatched it away and clipped it on her. She glared at him. He stared back.

"Wear it, Sith," he finally said, "Be proud of it, woman. He had the guts to do what even I didn't do right. At least wear it for him." Sith's face contorted into worry.

"And if I lose it?" she asked. Mello smiled at her.

"Then you lose a pin. It's only symbolic," he reminded her, "Sith, you're almost five thousand years old. So what if you lose it? Won't change how you feel, or how he feels." Sith looked down at Saix. He was still unconscious, but it looked like he was smiling. Did he know she put it on? Would he be amused when he saw it? She knelt down and brushed away the hair in his face. Absently, she touched the scar on his head.

"Doubt anything would, to be honest," she said to them, looking up, "I've never truly been afraid of much. But the thought that he'd be here no matter the danger… I admit, that scares me. What makes a heart beat, I always wondered? I used to ask my brother how I'd find the man who could stand by my side. He never answered." Sith stood again, looking down at her hand, at the mark that signified her debt to Oblivion, "When I was branded with this, I wasn't sure I would find him. And I didn't. He ended up finding me, instead."

"Not without help," Ryou told her, and Sith tilted her head. He grinned himself, like he understood something far deeper than she knew, "It all started, in part, with Rath. Rath caused you to flee. You fled to Mello. You came to my world after the Mystics, and Mello went after you. Organization XIII found you in my world because of Mello and those Mystics." A chain reaction. Sith snorted softly. There were reasons for everything. Still, she hated having to use Ryou and Mello to get her own way. It felt wrong.

"So I suppose I owe you both," she commented. Mello seemed willing to take that offer, but a nudge from Ryou stopped him. There was nothing to pay for. Even in his youth, he understood what Fate was and how she played. Sith had been as much a pawn as they were.

"Living your life is all we both want," Ryou said to her, and snuck a sly glance toward Mello, "Didn't you say similar, once?" Mello's eyes widened when he heard a snort from Malik and Katt. Malik had been there when he said that to Sith. Katt simply wasn't surprised. Mello turned away.

"Yeah, when I was an ass," he grumbled, and then he sighed, "But I don't regret it. I meant it. Sith, you've done enough. It's time you lived your own life, instead of saving everyone else's." Sith looked at everyone. There were still burdens she had to carry, responsibilities she owned simply because of who she was. But she nodded. She still had millennia left before she kicked her bucket. Oblivion could wait a year for her to adjust.

"What do you think, Saix?" she asked the unconscious man at her feet. She bent down, and wrapping his arm around her shoulders, she hoisted him onto his feet. He took a good few blows before Rath finally fell. He'd be out for a while. Taking a breath, Sith said, "Well, it's time we all went home. Let's let hell rot a bit before something else crawls out for us." She started for the portal – Aeon's spell was still active, so she crossed the ocean of lava with no incident – leaving her guardians staring. Then, one by one, they followed. They could already feel the threads keeping that realm together were slipping.

And so they left the Endless Abyss to rot, to swirl and spawn new terrors for the universe to deal with, one day. They left the darkness they'd all been fighting for nearly six years, one that had coiled around their worlds and had suffocated them for millennia longer. It would no longer be of consequence. Rath was gone now, the harness of evil she fashioned had been loosened. And though they knew darkness would never be truly defeated, they left knowing they dealt it a pretty shocking blow.

The best part was that they left knowing what freedom finally felt like. Magic, truly evil magic, could never touch any of them anymore. If it did, every person within that group now knew how to stop it. Nothing could ever feel so refreshing as that knowledge. Nothing ever would.

-(End Chapter)

It was the quietest defeat Ryou's world would ever know. But Rath's death did not so easily let Sith return to her life. When her guardians go in to rescue her, however, they find her alive and well, thanks to Organization XIII. And they find out something else has happened: Sith and Saix had already made a bond in the last few seconds before they could be wiped out. And now that Oblivion is at peace – at least for now – they all aim to return to their lives, to the way things should have been. With Rath's tyranny against their worlds removed, what else does Fate have in store for all of the people in Sith's life? Find out in the last chapter, the aftermath. So click that Review button!


	30. Aftermath: Rebirth of Magic

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, Kingdom Hearts, Death Note, or Castlevania. I won more than half the deeds, but apparently they long since expired. Drat!

Magic had always somehow been a part of his life. Ryou Bakura knew this when he was young, and accepted it when he received the Millennium Ring. He had disbelieved it when he met Sith Winchester, the Esper with a spirit like hellfire and with a tongue as sharp as her sword. But somehow, despite the distrust and dislike, magic had always been in his life. Whether good or bad, light or darkness, it had been there. It had haunted him like a shadow, stalked him like the best of assassins. It never once, for a moment, let him forget it was part of his life. It was like an old friend – and it had been the cause of his worst nightmares.

So, when magic suddenly stopped being in his life, when the madness and plague of one rogue Mystic was suddenly put to rest and left to disperse in the deepest pits of the void, it took quite a while for Ryou Bakura to adjust to the change. For the young man, he had been used to seeing bolts of lightning arc across the sky, or seeing shadows morph into bats. All of that stopped when Sith put an end to her devious cousin. It was slow at first. Then it was just nothing at all.

That had been almost thirteen years ago. Ryou hadn't seen any of the signs that the voids were planning on spitting out another calamity like Rath in that time. But he had been far from bored. Kaiba had kept his word that he would take Sith's place as defender for his world, and he took that promise seriously. Domino, and all of the cities around it – perhaps even the entire world itself – had shrunk with the dismissal of the overabundance of magic in their world. With that came a reduction in protection from threats as well. Not all evil was due to magic; bandits, crime, and disasters still existed. And though magic had waned, it hadn't been completely absolved. Werewolves, goblins, and other annoyances lurked in the phantom remains of what should've been busy sections of the city. Someone had to stop them from harassing whoever was left in the cities.

Knowing it fell to him, Kaiba created a rebellion to combat the darkness that Rath's death _didn't_ stop. Ryou, along with Yugi, Malik, and Ryuuzaki, was the primary force behind this rebellion. They all knew how to battle these creatures – with or without magic being involved. It had kept him occupied for many years. And he had become a superior tactician because of it. Kaiba even considered letting him take the reigns while he set up connections on the southern continent.

Ryou refused it. He preferred being in the action, actively slaying the demons who threatened his world. Thirteen years ago, he balked at the thought of picking up a machine gun and blowing the shit and brains out of any shadow that moved. Two scars on his chest too many told him he had to find the guts to battle. All he had to do was remember the reason Kaiba formed his rebellion in the first place: Sith. He found the guts, and the gun, by the next assault.

"What's Kaiba saying now?" Malik asked, as they stood in what had once been Domino's central square. Thirteen years ago, it had been occupied and was lively and festive. Constant battles with thieves and the dregs from Oblivion rendered the city as nothing more than desolate ruins. Ryou smacked his radio a few times to try clearing the static. Out there, the signal was worth horse shit.

"Group of mercenaries are hiding out in the old manor district, waiting for backup from the main group," Ryou said gruffly, looking toward a circle of dilapidated houses about two miles north. He grinned sardonically, "Too bad we killed the backup. Looks like this mission will be easy."

"Good thing, too. Katt's getting worried about me," Malik commented, getting off of the pile of bricks he'd been sitting on. It was getting late, the sky turning dark orange over the horizon, bathing whatever rooftops that still stood in golden light. He threw his cigarette over the side of the crumbled wall and said, "She was right again, you know. Oblivion doesn't fucking rest." Ryou laughed. That was almost an understatement.

"Sith's been in this game for over four thousand years. You shouldn't be surprised when she's right," he stated. Then, he sighed. It had been five years ago that Sith returned from her own world, Nesce, to warn Ryou that Oblivion was already starting to show signs of agitation. At the time, he hadn't believed her. No one had. No one wanted to. Now they were watching her warning become stark reality. "We were all fools."

"She must've been laughing when _demons_ started pouring out from the void," Malik grumbled, taking out another cigarette and lighting it. Damn bad habit, it was, but it helped him relax in the heat of battle. And they were going to be battling soon. Taking a draw, he continued, "Demons. _Demons_. Where the hell did they even come from?"

"Hell sounds about right," Ryou said seriously. His voice went quiet. Oblivion didn't rest. It never would. He wondered if it finally found something far worse than the Mystics that nearly ended his world. Behind him, Malik kept ranting. He wouldn't stop for some time.

"I swear, if _any_ of those blood-sucking, ass-faced _bastards_ came from _her_ world…" Malik began, but Ryou quickly gestured for him to shut his mouth. There was a flash of light, for just a split second, near one of the old houses in the north. The two men kept low, waiting. Another flash followed, and then several more. Ryou thought he heard gunshots. Ryuuzaki must've either opened fire, or botched his infiltration. Which meant it was time for Ryou to move. He clicked his gun.

"They didn't," Ryou promised him, and with a grin, he added, "Even if they did, they're demons. They'll fit in a body bag just as nicely as the mercenaries we're going to send to hell." Malik's smirk seemed to agree with that. He took out his rifle, loaded it, and clicked it in place. It was almost dark. The poor bastards down there would never see them coming, not when Ryuuzaki was enough of a distraction.

They rushed out of the square and made their way to that circle of houses. The torn-up street was already littered with corpses – some demonic, most human – by the time they set foot on the pavement. Ryuuzaki was doing a good job. But the clean up was going to be as bad as the mess was to make.

Sith had never said what would happen to the spirits once she departed from Domino. Maybe it had been best that she not say. Not that what happened had been particularly bad, but… well… when it was all said and done, the spirits simply _disappeared_. It was like they had never been there. Bakura had been able to keep his influence going for a while; he liked investing himself in the affairs of the mortals around him. But not even he could keep up the energy needed to remain in a world that did not suit him anymore. Like the other two, eventually he drifted away and simply did not return. No one noticed. No one seemed to care.

"What do you make of that?" Ishtar finally asked, as the three sat at a small, clothed table around what looked like a crystal ball. It was cloudy, unreadable. But somehow, they had managed to get a glimpse of something no one else could see. They hadn't liked it.

"Of _what?_" Bakura snapped unhappily, his brows creased, giving him a harsh and terrifying expression, "Sith's warning, or the great, big, hulking blob of _shit_ we just saw?" That, roughly, was an accurate portrayal of whatever they had seen in the ball. It had no discernible shape, but something was slithering on the ground like a shroud. Where it was, however, no one could say.

"My question is, _what_ is it?" Yami asked them both, tapping his fingers against the table. They had all considered asking Sith about it; not one of them could fathom what had crawled from the pits of hell to create it. She, at least, might have some ideas. She seemed to, when she arrived in complete disarray years before. But she hadn't elaborated then, and they doubted she'd do it now.

They sat in silence, trying to think. It could have been many things. It could have been in the process of changing its shape. It could have been an animal, distorted by the angle of the projection and the fog in the glass. It could have been a person struggling in a shroud of darkness. Bakura tried getting the image to reappear. Even since Sith had come, the visions in the glass were less and less focused. It was like getting terrible reception from a satellite: most of what they saw was static at best.

Bakura gave up when the fog gave way to blackness. The sparks used to power the ball were flickering at best. "Damn it, that woman was never good at giving us straight answers!" he yelled, slamming his fists into the table, "Too many 'maybes,' too many 'I can't says!' What happened to the Sith we knew, when she knew _everything!_" Yami sighed, letting his chin rest in his upraised palms. Bakura had taken to blaming their inability to discern that shape on Sith.

"She only knew what she knew because she _lived_ it," Yami reminded him with a yawn, his voice coming off as sounding bored, "She's in a new element, much like we are. Stop blaming her and start thinking for yourself."

"Don't you damn well think I'm _trying!_" Bakura demanded, throwing his arms up, nearly knocking his own chair back. He was silenced by a glare from the older spirit. Just as Bakura became more and more irritable with Sith's departure, Yami had become more and more defensive of his dear friend. Yami shifted his seat, looked right into Bakura's eyes.

"We _all_ are, including Sith," the spirit said slowly, leaning against the table on the edge of his seat, "Now's not the time to go pointing the finger at her. She has enough trouble in her own world, let alone in Ryou's. She tried to warn everyone. Did anyone want to listen?" Bakura sulked in his chair. Ishtar was more willing to provide an answer.

"People are just lazy," the blonde spirit replied wryly, looking down into the glass ball again, "Give them a hero, and they suddenly think they don't need to think anymore. Take that hero away, and Armageddon happens. It happened with Sephiroth, and it's happening with Sith."

"Sith isn't trying to destroy the world she lives in. She's not _insane_," Yami stated flatly. He couldn't even believe Ishtar would make such a bizarre comparison. Ishtar just shrugged. To him, he'd done a fine job.

"With how the worlds seem to be taking her warning, she won't _need_ to destroy any of them," he mused, looking up at them both. All trace of amusement seemed to be gone now. Replacing it was the harsh acknowledgement that the reprieve Sith had given them all was short-lived. "Humanity is going to destroy itself. Sith knew this. Maybe she's always known." Yami doubted this. Sith wasn't quite so pessimistic yet. But her husband was a different story. Her husband had been the one who convinced her to travel at all.

Ishtar might've made some lousy analogies, but when he spoke the truth, it made the other two spirits fall eerily quiet, as though they were afraid to admit he might be right. This occasion wasn't much different. Ishtar waited for his companions to give some opinion on his insight. He even began tapping his fingers against the wood. But neither spoke, and it was clear it irritated him. Looking at both of them, he said, "You think I'm right."

"We _know_ you're right. That's why we aren't saying it," Bakura grumbled, eyes narrowed as he stared into the ball. It gave him nothing. "Damn it, what does she even expect us to do? She didn't even know what she was warning us of." Yami thought that, if Bakura was going to settle down and think, getting him away from that crystal was the first priority. Gently, he took the thief's hands in his own and turned him away from the table.

"Sith didn't say anything was threatened," he reminded his old friend, and Bakura nodded as he took the information in, "She merely warned us. For now, she expects us to prepare, like she is. The only person she expects to do any fighting is herself."

"Not if her husband has anything to say about it," Ishtar put in quickly, and Yami frowned, "You remember Saix. He hasn't changed at all. I heard he turned berserk when a group of bandits appeared at their doorstep in the middle of the night. Sith had to keep _him_ from killing the _bad guys_." Yami could only imagine the frustration Sith had to deal with. Saix alone took most of her energy – if a new threat came up now, she might not have the energy to strategize like she had before. She was still Aeroglyph's queen; the world would take centuries to rebuild, let alone to populate.

"There's nothing in Nesce. Why are thieves _there?_" Bakura asked incredulously. This time, Yami smirked. Both spirits looked at him, wondering what he was hiding, if anything. He crossed his arms and leaned back in his seat.

"Same could be said for most worlds now," the pharaoh stated, half amused, half sly, "But we've all been around long enough to know that won't stop the millions of opportunists that still live. When we think about it, humans are just vultures waiting to pick at their last meal. They honestly think the purge left something behind." His words shocked both Bakura and Ishtar, in very different ways.

"When did _you_ get so pessimistic?" Bakura asked him, as Ishtar blinked and said, "They're looking for magical artifacts? Is that what Sith is trying to warn us of?" Yami shook his head at Ishtar and completely ignored Bakura for now. If things were that simple, Sith would've dealt with it on her own. Thieves were both the prerequisite and a separate problem entirely.

"No, but the fact that more and more people are actively seeking whatever remains of magic is enough for her to take notice," Yami replied seriously. He looked around quickly, as if he were afraid someone else could be listening before he continued, "Fifteen years ago, people could barely sense the presence of magic. That's how saturated our worlds were. No one would notice a band of Mystics roaming through their lands." Bakura understood now why Sith had seemed so concerned, even when everyone doubted her. He let out a sigh, and his harsh visage softened.

"But now that it's gone, people are _noticing_ something is missing," he said, and Yami nodded, "Without knowing why, they're searching." Yami nodded again, more emphatic this time. Bakura was seeing the point. And slowly, Ishtar began to see the actual warning as well. Sith wasn't warning them about a specific monster. Sith was warning them about something far more crippling, something that was originating from the people they were protecting.

"Magic became an addiction for them," Ishtar mused quietly. They all fell silent, contemplating Sith's words five years ago. '_Something within is fighting to break free. This time, I fear we won't stop it._' At first, they thought she had meant something was breaking free in Oblivion. But… "Yami, you knew, didn't you?" Ishtar asked. Yami's expression turned dark. Somewhere, he had figured it out, but hadn't completely pieced it all together.

"Sith said we wouldn't stop whatever is coming," the old spirit began gently, and looked up into the darkness above them, "For a long time, I kept wondering what threat we couldn't fight. Something within… then I realized she was speaking of something within humanity, something within _ourselves_. I started watching, waiting, like she would." He looked back at them, and for the first time, he wore the same haunted look Sith had. It scared the other two. Yami had been keeping this to himself for some time. For years. Why did it take him so long to tell them?

"Let me understand this," Bakura said, almost unable to believe what Yami was saying, "Humans don't use magic, but because of the over-saturation during the Winchester war, magic was infused within them. Now that it's gone, they're desperate to find it. To sate something within themselves." Yami nodded again, and his eyes seemed to see something that was not truly there. His knuckles were white from how tightly he was clutching the arms of his chair.

"Something within that wants to be freed," he rephrased. It was more or less what Sith had said, and it sent chills down their spines to hear it so plainly now. "I don't think these mercenaries are searching blindly. I think they're becoming fully aware of what they're looking for."

"That explains why they're gathering in larger and larger groups," Bakura commented, brow arched in the slightest frustration, "Kaiba's had his hands full, and Ryou's reports to him have been more and more complicated in the past few weeks. You don't think they're going to start rallying, do you?" Yami hummed. Truth to tell, he wasn't sure what desperation could drive men to do. He had never been driven so far. But Bakura had been. It was only because of Sith that he hadn't taken those steps. And they both remembered that, too. He looked at Bakura intently.

"You understand the workings of criminals far more than even Sith would," Yami told him calmly, and the air seemed to deaden a bit around them. Bakura's mouth slanted uncertainly. These weren't ordinary vagabonds. These men were searching with a purpose. They knew what they were going after, and they knew the danger they were pursuing. It wasn't slowing them down.

"They won't stop until they find what they're looking for," the thief said solemnly. He took a deep breath. This much, he was sure of. Motives could vary drastically, but no matter the cause, all thieves shared the same determination for their goals. Only weak-hearted sops gave up the chase. Grimly, he said, "I don't want to know what will happen when humans get hold of even a sliver of magical energy."

"Neither does Sith, but she already knows," Ishtar stated, his tone edging on a deeper fury that he didn't want to release, "She didn't come to us for help. She came because she thinks letting someone else know might slow it all down." He stood up now, so quickly that he knocked his chair over. His fury was spilling over. But what it was about, the other spirits couldn't guess. Ishtar had always been the unpredictable one.

"Damn it, Sith, what kind of game do you think you're playing!" he finally demanded, to a woman who wasn't there, "This isn't chess! You can't just use us like pawns! What were you thinking? Did you think knowledge would do anything? Are you that blind to humanity!"

"Ishtar, settle down," Yami said, but he sounded so quiet next to Bakura, who stood up as well and urged, "What the hell was _that_ about?" His question didn't calm Ishtar down, nor was it meant to. Instead, the blonde spirit was flustered. He wiped his forehead, sighed, and shook his head, trying to clear it. Then, he wiped his forehead again, obviously frustrated.

"Damn it, that woman is going to pull the same thing she did against Rath," he growled, practically pacing as he walked, "She's going about this the wrong way." What his bluster told them, however, was that he was scared that it could turn out the same way. Bakura and Yami exchanged glances. Then, Yami spoke again.

"Ishtar, she hasn't done anything yet. All she's done was warn us," he sounded just as quiet as he was before. But his words did calm Ishtar to some extent. The man stopped walking, realizing Yami was right. Sith had barely done anything in the five years since her return. That wasn't her style when it came to Rath; she had acted out every move carefully, but almost always quickly. This time, she hadn't even asked to see the reports Kaiba was getting. She hadn't checked on anyone or anything. She simply left everything as it was.

What did it all mean? Sith never liked involving herself in things that didn't concern her, but this was different. Sith hadn't started this problem, nor did it haunt her for centuries. But somehow, she found it. She had warned them… but then suddenly she stopped caring? Ishtar didn't like it. Sith might've been difficult to be around, but she wasn't coldhearted. There was more to this than they were seeing. The problem was, Yami was taking her warning literally, and Bakura knew too little to understand it. Ishtar was detached enough to notice something about this wasn't right. And it was in the fact that Sith _wasn't reaching out_.

"_All_ she's done was warn us," the younger spirit repeated grimly, still thinking, "Did you even ask her why she was so worried? Did anyone ask her?" He was practically glaring at his companions now. They looked up at him, noticing the hostility in his voice. He continued, "I said it earlier: Once we get a hero, it just gives us an excuse to not think. No one thought, did they? Sith came here and gave us a warning. Kaiba's the only one who's doing something about it." Yami and Bakura agreed with that. Kaiba was the primary reason Domino hadn't been completely ravaged yet. Sith had recognized that.

Yami and Ishtar were fine to put everything in perspective. Bakura was a man geared toward action. Thinking wasn't his strong point unless he knew every detail of what was coming. Folding his hands and resting his chin on the tips of his fingers, the old thief asked, "Well, then, what will we do about this?" He sounded both bored and incredibly worried. Yami didn't blame him. No one knew what could be coming next. Or how long it would take.

"Right now, we watch," Yami finally said, when Ishtar offered no advice. Bakura didn't like it, but Sith hadn't given them anything other than a few cryptic words. Maybe she really had no intention of battling. Maybe she simply had no idea what to do. But there was no way to actually contact her to find out.

Leaning back in his seat, Bakura sighed and said, "All right. I guess we have no choice but to leave this one up to our wonderful, little queen." Yami nodded, and Ishtar said nothing. None of them liked that idea, but until they had a better understanding of what humanity had begun to seek out, any action might very well put the universe in irrevocable peril.

The hardest part would always be the waiting. They had all waited centuries for the conclusion between Rath and Sith. They could all wait a few centuries more for this to blow over. But how many mortals would survive it?

To say he was busy with work was an understatement for Kaiba. To say he had no time for the trivial, little things Anzu had wanted him to get into wouldn't be an exaggeration in any way. The truth was, for thirteen years, he had almost never known what a free moment was. The demands of the people were too high, and the constant costs of keeping whatever was left of Domino drained him – financially, he supported it, but emotionally, Kaiba was quickly turning into a tired, old man. And he was barely a day over thirty-three. It hadn't helped when he lost Anzu seven years ago, just after his son had been born.

For the most part, Kaiba learned to ignore the prophets, the zealots, any psychotic nutcase that came stumbling from the sewers to warn him of the doomsday that would long be approaching. After Rath had passed, Domino seemed to have taken a peaceful rest from the assaults in Oblivion. Then, not even a year had passed before magic took one last crash through, dragging down every weapon, jewel, book, and even living people that had an ounce of magical ability within them. That crash seemed to last forever; in reality, it was only a few weeks before that last bump of power left. But when it did, it left Oblivion even more desolate than before. And to any surviving magician, their magic was condemned as stigma.

Sith had come back five years ago, and when Kaiba pressed her for details, for anything, she simply called what happened 'the purge.' She would give no other details, save for a cryptic message that left chills up Kaiba's spine. '_Something within is fighting to break free. This time, I fear we won't stop it_.' Kaiba stopped ignoring the prophecies and the sermons from the zealots that he had locked up. Sith hadn't elaborated, but he understood what she was saying. Something bad was coming. And he'd better pay attention.

He did pay attention. He had called Ryou, Malik, Ryuuzaki, and even Mello and Matt, and had held a meeting. He repeated Sith's words before she suddenly reappeared again. The world seemed to grow dimmer with her return. She hadn't stayed long, however. She merely had one more word of advice for Kaiba. And that was to protect his son. He hadn't understood her second message. The first one had confused him enough.

Now, however, things seemed to have turned for the worst, and Kaiba finally got the meaning behind Sith's warnings. The first one, he realized, was that the purge had done far worse than just wipe out millions of mortals with even a shred of magic within. It also awakened something within the survivors, something that was causing complete destruction in his world now, making those very survivors seem less than human. He couldn't place it. All he knew was that, as time went on, the very bandits he was hunting were becoming more organized, more dangerous, and they were pulling off bigger and greater crimes. They were _searching for something_.

The second one came within his own son, Enji. Two years ago, something had broken into Kaiba's mansion. A shadow, it looked like – it had no discernable shape, and it could easily pass through the walls. Kaiba had tried to fight it, but normal weapons couldn't hit it. Enji, however, _could_. Without even understanding what he was doing, Enji had sent out a blast of lightning that fried the shadow to a crisp. And in doing that, the five-year-old boy inadvertently sent out a signal that he had magic. The bandits reacted to it, and had nearly broken in the next night. Ryou had come to the boy's rescue.

Now Kaiba had to do the toughest thing he could ever do in his life. His son had magic. Through some act of the gods, Enji had been gifted with magical prowess. But he had been born in a world that was not safe for him. Kaiba knew what had to be done. He couldn't protect his son. Not when the world continued to slip into an eclipse of complete darkness. If there was any hope for his son to control his power and to be kept safe, it lay in the hands of a woman Kaiba did not want to trust. Enji was sent to Nesce with only Roland and Mokuba as escorts. Kaiba could afford no one else.

Now, Kaiba simply stood in his empty office. He had sent Enji off over a week ago, and expected Mokuba back any second. The timing couldn't have been better. The door creaked open, and Kaiba's younger brother slipped in. Mokuba had changed for the better. His hair was long, down almost to his knees. But to keep himself safe, he preferred to wear the hunting leather the mercenaries up north had adopted; he looked like one of their own now. As he strolled across the office to join Kaiba, Mokuba said, "The boy's with Sith now. Safe and sound."

"Did she say anything?" Kaiba asked quietly. To this day, it still surprised Mokuba how timid Kaiba's voice had gotten during the past ten years.

"Only that Enji will be waiting until Domino is safe for him," Mokuba replied, lounging on the couch near the window, "Hand me a beer. I think I need one. Come to think of it, you probably do, too." Kaiba didn't feel like drinking right then, but he complied. Beer was becoming a rare delicacy now; Mercenaries plucked the drink up and either drank it all or dumped it in spite.

"The world's falling apart on us, Mokuba," Kaiba said, after a moment of thought. Mokuba drank heartily, and then looked at his brother. Kaiba continued, "Falnika was right. Oblivion would have fallen apart regardless of if Sith had won. The purge would've happened."

"But what started it?" Mokuba asked him, "I thought Rath had. Sith said it was something more." Kaiba looked out the window. It was something more. It was something Sith hadn't told Ryou, or Malik, or even Basch. But Kaiba and the other guardians knew clearly what it was. It had nothing to do with Rath.

"It was the complete toppling of power that caused it," Kaiba told him grimly, as he took another swig of beer, "Rath's death unleashed the energy in her body. It far exceeded that of any living creature. Sith's death would have caused the same." At least, he figured it would. Sith would've known far more than he did. Mokuba just whistled. If that was the case, it was no wonder Sith hadn't been ecstatic to have won the war.

"So it really didn't matter who won. We were all doomed from the start," the younger Kaiba said sadly. Kaiba looked at his brother. That wasn't true. It did matter to some extent; Sith's victory meant no one would be oppressed during the purge. But her victory hadn't been enough to stop said purge in any way. All it did was give mortality a rest.

"No, we aren't. We'll get through this," Kaiba told him very firmly, "Humanity is falling apart, but there are still people out there who aren't giving into the darkness. Magic will come back. It already is." And it was starting with Enji. Mokuba thought about that, but said nothing. Kaiba was right. But how long would it take, he wondered.

Kaiba knew when Mokuba was troubled, and when he didn't speak was normally the first sign of it. He gently left his little brother to think on his words, and went back to the window. The world was crumbling before him, but it wasn't over yet. Sith was still alive. Katt was alive. Aeon was alive. And Enji was safe. Years ago, he hadn't trusted magic. He knew now it was because he hadn't understood it. And when it made itself present in his own son, he knew he'd have to protect that little spark of power. That was the key to humanity's longevity. Magic would once again be the key to survival.

"Sith…" Kaiba called gently, looking at his own reflection in the window. Yet, in his mind, it wasn't himself he was looking at. It was that damn woman, with those damn bat wings and those oversized, catlike ears, with the green eyes that judged every move he made. "You hold the key to our survival again, Sith. Take care of my son."

The purge had wiped out so much. So many worlds fell apart. So many mortals died. So many gods and legends were eradicated. Books and old scriptures, relics and artifacts, all of it destroyed in those few weeks of hell. So much magic lost. So much of Oblivion suffered for that sweep, and would continue to suffer for centuries to come. But not one of them ended as badly as Nesce had. Though thousands of worlds were no longer in existence, Nesce was forced to live on forever as an empty shell, unable to be used as anything more than a breeding ground for darkness and evil. Only a few sparks of light remained in the old kingdom; not one of them were doing well from the purge.

Sith stood at the balcony that overlooked her gardens. How lovely they had been, over three thousand years ago, when bursts of blue, purple, red – any color, really – blossomed over the land. Roses and lilacs, sprigs of lavender and patches of heather. Lichen on the rocks, and even juniper trees had once dotted those beloved gardens. The land practically glowed with health. Even with everything Rath had done, the gardens had survived. That was until the purge wiped the rest of the life energy in Nesce out. Now, all that was left was a sea of dead weeds. Dead weeds, and thousands of corpses buried underneath.

The last thirteen years were a hell Sith never thought she would live through. It made the last three thousand seem like a dream, a foggy memory. The purge had come through her kingdom, taken away her loved ones, killed her own people. It nearly killed her, too; as it was, her magic was permanently exhausted. It was only in the fact that her magic was _weaker_ than the rest of her family that she was spared; Katt happened to have been in a different world, and thus she survived as well. But Sceppiro and Gilden were gone. The other Esper Princes, even from southern Conquille, were spirited away to depths unknown. Magic had finally abandoned the Espers.

Despite that, however, Sith couldn't help but feel that not everything had been bad. Her council of guardians had survived. So had her husband. And the castle still stood, was still occupied by her and most of her guardians. There was still hope, however slim it was. She had to believe that. She had to have something to hold onto, even just to give Saix some hope, as well.

"So, can you sense anything yet?" Mello asked her, and she turned to face half of her council. Saix, Matt, and Aeon were with the blonde; Basch was out scouting for refugees, and everyone else was in Domino. Sith took a breath, and nodded.

"Whatever's happening, it's coming closer," she told them gently, and leaned back against the railing. It was crumbling; she feared it might not support her soon, "Every day, it grows worse. Yet I still can't see what it is." She sounded as confused as she had been five years ago. Bitterly, she looked away. If only she had her magic…

"It is nothing we can see," Aeon reminded her gently, snapping her out of her momentary sadness, "All we can do is know. Know that the purge is awakening a very deadly instinct within man."

"Know and still do nothing?" Sith asked him, and when Aeon couldn't answer, she said, "I cannot do that, Aeon. Magic is slipping away, and the Espers are dying, but I am still Sith Winchester of Aeroglyph. I can't stand here and watch it all die." Her voice shook as she spoke. Damn it, she had told herself this would happen. It still hurt to see it unfold. Especially since everything she had done to stop it had failed so magnificently. She looked away. It was only when she felt a hand on her shoulder that she looked up. She looked up at Saix.

"You aren't a legend anymore, Sith," the blue-haired Nobody stated calmly, "You are just a woman, who bleeds and dies like all men. Let the men die." Sith hated to do it, but she knew her husband was ultimately right. If she tried to save humanity from itself, she would die from it. Their hunger would claw her to death, tear her apart and devour whatever was left of her. Just thinking of it sent shivers up her spine.

Still, she was not an idle person. Looking down at the stone floor, she said, "The men will die, one day. This is inevitable. But, damned be the man who forces me to watch it all." Some of her strength returned with her words, and when she looked up at the guardians who were there, she found it relieved them. They didn't approve of what she might do, but it did relieve them.

"Babe, you sound like you have a plan," Mello said, and he patted the old pistol at his hip, "Let's hear it." The weapon wouldn't last even in a small battle. But he'd made a vow to stand by her thirty years ago. He wasn't about to run away when something bad was finally happening. Sith just grinned. She knew it as well as he did.

"No plan, this time," she told him, and he was finally – after thirty years of this woman and her outrageous ideas! – shocked, "As Aeon said, we can't see what will happen. All I have is a bad feeling; a warranted one, too. I just don't want to watch it." Mello's brow perked. He expected more than that, especially when she was so worked up over it. He felt he should've known. And he just laughed, shaking his head. This was Sith to a tee.

"You had me excited for a minute. Here, I thought we'd go in there and just wipe the morons out," he admitted good-naturedly. Sith narrowed her eyes, though her grin hadn't vanished.

"Sorry to disappoint you," she replied simply. She turned back to the balcony. Maybe there was something that could be done, but whatever it was, it would take a good, long while for her to have an opening. She didn't notice that Mello hadn't spoken. No one had.

"A lot of things disappoint us, Sith. You won't be the last." Sith looked up when she heard that voice. She recognized it; it was a voice that had been burned into her memory, as had the identity of the man who spoke it. She simply hadn't expected that man to ever return to Nesce. Her understanding was that, once magic was out of his life, he was done. Their bond had been stronger than that.

"Ryou?" she called, and finally turned once again. Mello and Matt had moved to let the man aside. He was just under six feet, and the hardships that rocked his own world definitely showed themselves in his hardened expression and his stiff posture. His hair was long and ragged, his frame bigger than Sith would've expected. He had lost his left eye at some point since she'd seen him last. But when he saw her, that same gentle expression he'd always had returned. It took years off of his look; she saw the eighteen-year-old boy she'd left behind.

"Filled out better than you thought, eh?" he joked, noticing her stare. She grinned again. Behind her, Saix snorted. Even with that being said, Ryou was no comparison to the man who'd become her husband. They all knew this.

Clearing her throat, the Esper said, "Well, now, Ryou, I never thought you'd come back here." Ryou stepped forward, joining her at the rail. He knew he'd return one day. He simply never said this to her. There hadn't been the chance.

"How else would I demand some damn answers?" he asked, and she suddenly found he wasn't joking anymore. He sounded almost hostile. When she backed away, his voice became gentle again, "Sith, we've waited five years for your warning to show us some trouble. Now we're getting frustrated. Are we all going to die?"

"Eventually, we all do," Matt reminded him unhelpfully. A glare from Sith smartly shut the red-head up. Turning and looking up at her old friend, she asked, "What is it you want to know, Ryou?" The white-haired man gave her a look that said he wasn't sure where to begin. That was more or less the truth.

"Well, _what_ are we waiting for was my first question, but I'm pretty sure the rebirth of magic sums that up. I'll just skip ahead a few pages," Ryou said to her, and leaned on the railing. He nearly jumped when a chunk of it broke off and shattered in the courtyard below, "Sith, the survivors are growing restless." 'The survivors,' she had learned, had become the general term for everyone who managed to be spared in the purge and had the luck to be born with no magic. She wasn't even surprised to hear this. He figured as much.

"You would be, too, if your addiction could be fulfilled," she commented slyly, and to Saix, she said, "Humans are becoming no better than the Heartless." Saix didn't respond, at least not visibly. Turning back to Ryou, she asked, "Are they getting ready to take Domino down yet?" Her casual tone caught him off-guard. Like Ishtar, he understood this wasn't her style. Something was up.

"Uh… no, not yet," he answered dully. Whatever was going on, he simply hadn't understood it, yet. She should've been more worried than she appeared. Was it just a ruse?

"Then you're not screwed just yet." No, it wasn't a ruse. Sith was thinking. She let the silence drag out, and then slowly, she said, "Five years ago, I left you in the dark for a reason. I didn't know what was happening, but I at least felt you should be prepared in case something did."

"And _is_ something happening, Sith?" Ryou asked. Sith nodded.

"Yes," she replied firmly, "Like you said, the rebirth of magic is likely the cause. But more importantly, the awakening from the purge is the key. When the magic died out, it left a gaping hole in whoever managed to live through it. Without that innate connection, humans couldn't begin to understand what was missing. Remember when all of the artifacts the Mystics kept just suddenly vanished?" Ryou nodded. Matt and Mello joined him.

"Guess what? One of them resurfaced," she told them all. It was clear _only_ she knew about this, and she continued, "The pendant Katsaiga once wore. My guess was it was buried in the ground when you lost your father's museum." Ryou's frown worsened, and the pieces fell into place.

The museum had been in the old manor district of Domino City. The purge had created devastating winds that ripped the city apart; everything inside of the museum had been lost, and the excavations Yugi had handled had yielded nothing. More importantly, however, the old district was where the mercenaries had moved into when the fighting between their forces and Kaiba's men broke out. Civilians either fled or died in the streets, whether it be from starvation, exhaustion, or murder from the bandits in the north. That section of the city in particular had been overrun. Kaiba lost the entire district, and was forced to relocate his family south, where the ruins of the shopping district remained. He had lost Anzu before he could get his son and his brother to safety.

In the ensuing, bloody skirmishes, it wouldn't have been hard for a pendant to be overlooked. The mercenaries had seven years to discover it. Ryou realized that as soon as they had was when they suddenly stopped being so scattered. The pendant's residual energy would be faded by then – faded, but still there. If any of those barbarians had even a quarter-ounce of ability still within them, they would have recognized the pendant as either Esper or Mystic in origin. They would have finally found a piece of whatever they were looking for.

Shit. No wonder their battle for the remainder of the city had been so brutal. "Now they know magic is coming back," he said, "And now that they know, they're going to wait." It was worse than that. Sith wasn't grinning anymore. She crossed her arms. Even with the men towering over her, she was still the most imposing figure on that balcony.

"More likely they'll go completely psychotic before they wait," she told him grimly, and her words were so definite that he actually felt terror, "To us _immortals_, magic is so inherent that we think little of it. But for you humans, it's like a drug. You _can_, and will, become addicted to it. Now, what happens to an addict when they've gone cold turkey and suddenly find themselves in a garden _full_ of their poison?" Such a lovely analogy on Sith's part. And so painfully accurate. Ryou couldn't suppress a wince.

"Sith, please tell me we're not dealing with an army of half-starved monsters," Ryou finally sighed, rubbing his forehead. He sounded exhausted, and his thirty-one years showed it. Sith actually felt bad. He wasn't taking this well.

"I'd prefer not to lie, Ryou," she said calmly, and shrugged, "I really don't see them as monsters. More like zombies, really. Mindless, slavering zombies." It didn't matter _what_ Sith wanted to call them. In the end, Ryou would be dealing with them. Sith probably would have to step in, too. Now wasn't the best time to make jokes about it.

"Sith…"

"Ryou, you wanted answers and I gave them," she said sharply. That put a stop to his complaint. It silenced everyone, actually. The tension was thick enough for Zealacht to puncture. When it became unbearable, Sith slowly said, "We're about to face a crisis, people. In my defense, I did _try_ to stop it." At that, she had. No one could've stopped what happened next.

Still, their thoughts and questions couldn't be stemmed for eternity. Quietly, Mello glanced from one person to the next, and he asked, "What do we do about it, Sith?" The answer, considering her actions thus far, seemed obvious to her. She uncrossed her arms and gingerly leaned against the railing. It didn't crumble this time. She looked down, tilted her head.

"What is there to do? All men die eventually," she stated cryptically, much like she had been before. She turned, paced a bit, "There's not a damn we can do to stop it. Physical manifestations of evil? Those are easy to destroy. But Death?" She chuckled now, but her voice wasn't as light anymore, "Nothing stops Death. Not even magic." Ryou felt he understood her answer. He took a deep breath. It wasn't what he wanted to hear. But at least he got an answer.

"So we do nothing, is what you're saying," the tired man said. Sith glanced at him.

"If there was anything to do, we'd be doing it," she rephrased bluntly, and stopped walking, "Humanity will destroy itself. At least, a good chunk of itself. Will we once again crawl out of the woodwork? Perhaps, so long as people like us remain. But it's unlikely civilization will recover from this. Too much has been lost, and there's not enough to save."

"But what about magic?" Ryou asked her. She looked squarely at him. So did her guardians and her husband. Knowing he was facing opposition, Ryou said, "Kaiba feels magic is the key to survival. He says you have his son." Sith frowned. That had been Kaiba's choice, not hers. She agreed only because Mokuba begged her.

"Magic is _not_," she told him, so firm in her words that they snapped whatever faith Ryou had in Kaiba's resolution, "Magic is a source of power, but it is _not_ an absolute. Did you ever wonder why humans are not normally born with it?" Ryou knew why. If they had been, magic would have been abused far more than it already was. Still, he felt hopeless. Survival rested solely on man's morality. Of which, he felt there was none.

"Sith, please tell me there's something you can do about this," he finally pleaded. Sith's stern expression almost wavered. This was a man who'd proven his loyalty to her. He did far more than she asked of him just so she could win her own battles. Quietly, he continued, "I know humanity can't be saved. But what about you? What about the other Espers?" Ryou knew Oblivion couldn't afford for every shred of magic to be lost.

Sith bit her lip. _Humanity_. She had never thought of it in that context. Humans were doomed because of their stupidity and their greed. Ryou didn't care about that. He came to see if _anything_ could be saved. He never once limited it to _humanity_. Looking over the balcony, Sith considered his plea. The city still stood, though it was uninhabited and most of the buildings had fallen into dilapidation. Lightning Valley could still be used as farmland, if there were farmers to mend it. Conquille still stood. Vedundrung wouldn't take long to rebuild. But it all depended on her.

There was a way to save magic. But it would depend… _depend_ on both humanity and the old races to do it. She turned to the men assembled on her balcony. The look in her eyes told them she knew what had to be done. "We are all still living, and we all have magic," she began, making it no question, but a statement. Mello's brow rose.

"We established that a while ago, Sith," he informed her, not quite getting her meaning. She ignored his tone. She walked toward Ryou now, and looked up at him. He'd let her stay in his world for six years so she could build her own defense and get the strength to kill Rath. It was time to return that favor so humanity could live on. Humanity doomed itself. But something else could save it.

No one understood her plan until she walked back to the center of the balcony and looked at all of them. Taking off her glasses, she said, "Ryou… take Mello, Matt, and Aeon with you. Bring everyone with an ounce of magic or morality here." Ryou's mouth dropped. To Aeroglyph. Sith just ordered them to bring back every person from Domino to _Aeroglyph_. He couldn't even begin to guess why.

"You want me to scour Domino for this?" he asked her in disbelief. Her grin returned. Whatever her next words were, he wouldn't like them.

"Not just Domino. Every world you can reach," she said. He _hated_ those words. So did his appointed companions.

"_Every_ world!" Matt exclaimed, as Aeon's eyes widened and he said, "Sith, that's millions of people!"

"Which is what we'll need for this kingdom to be a kingdom," she reminded them. They all suddenly fell silent. She waited for a reaction. All she received was a conglomeration of confusion and stunned speechlessness. She took a breath and said, "Humanity will go on. And it will do so with magic through its veins. The remaining Espers and Esper Princes will not object. They _cannot_ object." Ryou gulped. This wasn't quite what he had in mind.

Aeon hadn't expected it, either. Now he stepped forward, shaking his head. "You cannot possibly be serious, Sith. You are suggesting… Espers _breed_ with humans?" he asked. He sounded disgusted with the idea. If Ryou didn't know how badly that would dilute the nobility still remaining, he would've been offended. As it was, Sith was offended enough with Aeon's tone. She stared him down.

"The purge nearly killed us all, Aeon. Unless something is done, all races will die," she reminded him harshly, sharply. He swallowed, and stepped back. He hadn't wanted it to be this way, but Sith was right. Something had to be done.

Something was already being done, they all realized. At that moment, Saix moved from his spot and stood near his wife, wrapping his arms around her. He said nothing, but the look on his face told Aeon the time-keeper had best shut his mouth and not issue another insulting complaint. And for all of them, Saix _not_ speaking was far more dangerous than Saix barking orders. Ryou remembered Victor's words. _In about ten years, mother is pregnant with me_. He had gotten it wrong, of course; Artemis came first. But the gist was the same. Ryou knew what had to be asked.

"Sith," he began, and he stepped forward toward her, "They can't object for a reason. It's because of you, isn't it? If they object, they'll have no choice but to go against you. You're the last queen on this throne, with no heirs." Sith smiled now. Saix's hand slid down to her stomach. She still had a while to go; she wasn't showing yet. But it was true. They couldn't object without going against her, and against the one thing that would prove how ridiculous their objections would be.

As for the other guardians, they still hadn't caught on in any way. Matt and Mello looked at one another. Aeon looked at Saix, at Sith, and then at her stomach. Then, it all clicked in his mind. Now he understood her reasoning. He understood her offense. Shaking, he said, "Sith… you… you're… are you…?" Her smile grew. Magic wasn't the key to survival. But it was one of the components needed. The other, they all realized, was the acceptance that there could no longer be a barrier between Esper, Mystic, Fey, Mer, and Man.

"Sith…" Mello began. Sith chuckled. She had a feeling this would be the general reaction. Everyone knew it'd happen. But to have it happen in this way… to her, it was a miracle.

She looked at Aeon, and felt Saix let go of her so she could move. She nodded, and said, "Yes, Aeon, I am." She walked toward them, quietly, and said, "You've all wondered why I've done nothing about the purge. I've already done what I was meant to do." And it wasn't to slay Rath. Ryou understood. So did the others. It was something far less heroic, yet even more powerful than severing evil with a sword. Unlike a sword, what Sith did could not disappear. She kept smiling, and stopped a few feet before them.

"I am pregnant. And my son will have the blood of both an Esper and a man inside of him," Sith told them, "That man has the blood of a demon in his veins, and that demon's blood will also flow through my child. And when he becomes a father? Who is to know what else will be mixed?" They understood her point. In the end, it would no longer matter.

No… it never did matter. Kaiba understood that when his own son had the gift of magic. Mello understood that when he loved Sith. Xemnas, and the rest of Organization XIII, understood it when Saix couldn't let go of Sith. Sith understood it most of all; only those closest to her knew of the demon blood in her family.

Humanity had a fighting chance. Enji, Artemis, and Victor were just the beginning. Ryou sighed, and turned toward the door. If this was going to be his contribution to the survival of the universe, he knew he had a lot of work to do before people everywhere started to lose their minds. He just hoped he could find enough humans who would fit the thought of 'nobility.' Aeroglyph, after all, was going to become the new kingdom of the world – whatever was left of it. Aeroglyph was simply full of nobility.

Damn it all. Once again, for the last time, magic weaseled its way back into Ryou's life. And what a long life he knew he'd live, too.

-(End story)

And so it all ends. Ryou has more on his plate than he ever asked for, but he'll pull through and humanity will live on. Thank you all for reading Ryou Bakura: Time Master. It took several years to write the saga between Ryou, Sith, and the forces of Madness with which they've defeated, and it was fun to do. Some things didn't quite come out as planned, but sometimes stories take us places we never expect to go. In the end, it came out like I wanted: a huge cross-over between Yu-Gi-Oh, my own characters, and several various games and shows I like. The best part was how every character interacted with each other.

In all honesty, I never expected Sith to have so many men fighting for her. In the beginning, Ryou was supposed to just be a one-time date for her, way back in Harbinger of Trouble. Mello was supposed to ultimately win his one-on-one against Ryou. At the time, I didn't realize Mello died in Death Note, and since the story supposedly takes place after Sith left Mello's world, I had to fit that in. Saying he's a phantom who's been dead for several years seemed the best way to do it. As for Aeon and Saix… well, Aeon's ageless and has known Sith her entire life. Saix came into play because Mello is dead; he couldn't ultimately contribute much to the revival of magic. It was either Saix or Xemnas. And I don't think Xemnas would be so willing to fight for Sith. Just a hunch on my part.

Anyway, thank you for reading the story. If you've read the entirety of the saga, from Harbinger of Trouble, Chaos Master, Game Master, to Time Master, then you've been through a lot. Thanks for sticking in there. Sith and the others appreciate it. So, go on. Grab a soda. Play a game. Just remember to click that Review button.


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